Perfect Disaster
by Thatzly
Summary: A lawyer, identical brothers, and a suspicious case. Why did she take on this challenge? How was she supposed to solve a murder when her client has no recollection of if he committed the crime or not? Worse, her opponent was the famous Kyouya Ootori. AU.
1. Chapter 1

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Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC it belongs to Bisco

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"Mr. Hitachiin?" A feeble looking man cautiously poked his head into the room. It was pitch black. The curtains were drawn and for some reason, no lights had been left on. Maybe the janitors had already made their run through for the day and turned them off not knowing they'd be needed later.

For a moment, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness before finally entering. Was he there? He had to be, this was the meeting time they had both agreed on. 9 pm sharp. His boss was known to be late but not with something as important as this.

"Mr. Hitachiin?" He tried again, his voice shaking slightly. He clenched his fists and looked around.

The chair shifted slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you..." Why was he sitting alone in the dark? "May I turn on the lights?"

Silence. The employee took that as a yes, and turned to find the switch. Behind him the man in the chair stood and all that was heard next was a loud bang as a gun fired off.

The employee dropped to the floor.

Dead.

When the police arrived moments after they would discover, who they later found out to be Hikaru Hitachiin, kneeling over the victim, gun poised in his bloody hands.

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The office of Haruhi Fujioka wasn't one you'd usually expect to see belonging to a highly renowned lawyer. It wasn't fancy, in fact it was the opposite. Simple. She had an average sized office that could only fit her small desk, a bookcase, an out-of-date computer, and a single seat for her client. She simply didn't see any real point in using money to glamorize things when this is all she needed to get her job done. Sure, people had offered her gifts to try to "spice up" her gloomy office but she always rejected them or gave them to her dad. It's a waste of good money and space. Especially when they wouldn't be put to good use.

Today, the lawyer found herself reading and finishing the necessary paperwork that succeeded her last case. It would be the last task to do before her well-deserved vacation began and maybe then she could finally get a good night's sleep. That kind of luxury was rare these days. There were so many people coming to her, so many people that needed help. Who was she to turn them down? Even if that meant for the last few weeks she'd been pushing back her vacation time further and further. But this was it. This week she was leaving.

No matter who or what walked in through that door.

Just as the pen met that paper to sign the last signature her door burst open revealing a young man who seemed to be in his early twenties. But, the dark bags under his eyes looked to add on to his age. He ran a shaky hand through his light brown hair which only worsened its ruffled state and moved to sit in the chair before her. Haruhi suspected he'd probably been up all night just like she had. However, he looked far worse than she ever had after an all-nighter.

"I need you to represent my brother in court." He began, looking down at her with tired hazel eyes.

It seemed she had a sixth sense for these sort of things. She knew someone else was going to try to ruin her well-earned vacation. But this time she had come prepared.

"I'm sorry, sir, but my office will be closed for the next two weeks. But, if you'd like to consult me after then I'd be happy to give you my card. " Haruhi said. She easily recited the lines she'd practiced multiple times beforehand.

"I don't want your card!" The man spat. His eyes locked on hers, penetrating her, daring her to actually turn him down. "What I need is for you to help my brother. He's on trial for murder and you're the only lawyer left. No one else will take this case."

Damn was he persistent. She never imagined it would be this hard to turn someone down, but it was a good thing she'd thought that far ahead in her prepared rejection as well.

"I understand the importance of this trial, but I can't take it right now. I'm sorry."A shiver ran down Haruhi's spine as the room temperature seemed to drop.

"Money isn't a problem." He stated, a shadow of darkness creeping over his already dull eyes.

"I never said it was."

"I'll pay you for the trial and your vacation fees. You'd be able to go anywhere you want once this is over. All expenses will be paid in full."

The thought was all too tempting. Maybe she could go to America. She'd always wanted to go there...

Shaking herself from her thoughts Haruhi mentally slapped herself back into reality. Where would he get money like that? Perhaps his brother was a murderer and he himself was a thief who stole from banks. She definitely didn't need this.

"Once again, I'm sorry, but-"

"Fine, if you change your mind here's _my_ card." And in a huff he was gone, his card the only evidence he'd ever been there.

She frowned and picked up the card for examination. "Kaoru Hitachiin. Co-owner of the Hitachiin fashion line."

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"I'm home!" Closing the door behind her Haruhi strolled into the familiar apartment complex.

She lived here with her dad. Amazing, yes, seeing as she had enough money to move out and buy a place of her own, but somehow she felt it just wouldn't be the same. Besides, she couldn't just leave him. Now that her mother was gone she was all he had.

Removing her shoes and coat she walked further in. The lights were on, meaning someone was home or at least had been at some point. But the scattered state of her documents, father's clothes, and other assorted objects only pointed to only one thing.

He was on a date.

With a sigh, Haruhi turned on the television and began to pick up the stray objects her father had so kindly left for her to clean up. He always left such a mess when he was getting ready. It was amazing he ever found anything at all.

It wasn't until she heard the name Hitachiin did she look up and pause her work. The woman on the screen stared back at her, microphone in hand. Behind her stood a large crowd of what seemed to be a mixture of nosy pedestrians and police trying desperately, and failing, to restrain the mass of people. All of which were trying to push closer to get a better view.

"Today we stand in front of the Hitachiin Building where just hours ago a body was found in a room on the top floor. So far, the only information we could gather from the Chief of Police is that the victim was a male in his early thirties." Haruhi's stared at the screen, watching as a picture of the victim flashed on briefly.

"The victim was said to have worked at the company previous to the murder. The suspect, company heir Hikaru Hitachiin, was apprehended earlier for questioning. So far no clues have been found to indicate that, his twin and business partner Kaoru Hitachiin, was near at the time of the murder."

Her eyes widened. Kaoru Hitachiin? This must be the case the man from earlier was talking about. She ran her eyes over the screen surveying the imagery behind the woman and paused. Hitachiin? She'd heard that name before this case.

Hitachiin...where had she...?

She snapped up and swiftly moved into her father's closet. If she remembered correctly it would be somewhere around... Here! She pulled out a leather coat and examined the tag.

Hitachiin Fashions.

They were a fashion industry. A large and expensive one at that. She still remembered the bill she'd gotten later in the mail after her father slyly "borrowed" her credit card and spent it on this...thing.

If this business of theirs was as large as she suspected then this wasn't just any normal case. This would be one that would be remembered for a long time. She would be stupid to pass up an offer like this.

Haruhi's gaze drifted to the pocket of her coat. Perhaps it was time to give Mr. Hitachiin a call.

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**Kaoru seemed to have more of a Hikaru type personality in this chapter but I'll blame that on stress. After all if your only important person was in trouble and people weren't willing to help you you'd probably be a little bitchy too~ Anyway, the normal Kaoru will come back next chapter. I can guarantee that! **

**Review please~ They make me happy. Even if it's criticism. **


	2. Chapter 2

******Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC it belongs to Bisco Hatori  
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Saying this place was huge was an understatement. It had to be by far the most luxurious, well furnished, overpriced place she'd ever seen. But, with as much money as they had coming to them from their fashion business it wasn't a surprise they'd decided to burn some of it on things such as fountains and cars.

The night before, she'd made the call to Kaoru accepting his brother's case. Now here she sat, alone, watching the many frantic maids and butlers clean. This mansion probably had more rooms than she could count. Most of which she could easily gauge were rarely used at all. She discovered this when she got lost on the way to the bathroom. Even with directions she somehow stumbled into two dining rooms, four entertainment rooms, one library, and even the laundry room before finally she'd opened the right door.

_This place is a maze. How does no one find themselves needing a map just to navigate?_

Since her last trip around the house she stayed rooted to the seat offered to her while she waited. Hopefully her employer would quickly finish whatever business it was he was doing in his office soon.

"Ms. Fujioka?" A deep voice called out. Her head snapped up and she stood, clutching onto her briefcase. Before her an older man stood, his body bowed slightly in greeting. When he straightened his eyes roamed over her body, calculating. His nose scrunched up as if he'd tasted something sour. "Please follow me. Master Hitachiin is ready to see you."

He turned, giving Haruhi the opportunity to look down at herself.

Hey, she didn't look that bad... Sure the suit was a little old (it was her mom's), and instead of a dark grey it was now a lighter grey, but it still worked for the purposes she needed. Puffing out her cheeks slightly she pulled down on her suit jacket and skirt in indignation and followed up the winding steps after the butler.

They arrived in front of a large mahogany door, the name Hitachiin engraved on the outside of it in gold cursive letters. The butler knocked on the door twice, looked back at the lawyer, then pushed open the door revealing the same man who'd entered her own office the day before. Except now he looked slightly calmer. His hair still stuck up in odd places, and his clothes a wrinkled mess, but his eyes held more of a spark and his face more relaxed.

"Sorry, you've probably been waiting for quite a while." The man spoke, his hazel eyes locking onto her own brown ones.

She bit her tongue. A while? Try two to three hours. All of which included more than one disgusted stare in her direction from his oh-so-kind hired helpers. Kaoru raised his hand to stifle a small chuckle which only helped to anger her more.

"I'm sorry. You made the strangest face when I said that. I really do apologize. Something...came up. But it'll be fine now that you're on the case." For the first time since she met him he smiled and for some reason seeing it was enough to send a wave of calmness through her, pushing away some of the growing bitterness towards him.

He truly was a piece of work. Even though he had paperwork piled to the ceiling, even though his phone was ringing off the hook, he could still smile. Although, his tired appearance and tensed position said volumes about how he handled things behind the scenes.

"Now that you're here we can drive down to visit my brother." He said standing and grabbing his coat from the butler she hadn't even realized still stood in the room watching. "We'll take the limo and you can leave your car here. I'll have security watch over it. "

"That won't be necessary. I don't have a car..." Her hands curled tightly around the handle on her briefcase.

"Hmm?" He paused, his trek to the door and tilted his head back to look at her, his arm mid-sleeve in his coat. A playful twinkle flashed in his eyes and his lips twitched upwards slightly. She could already feel the blush spreading across her face.

What? Was her lack of transportation funny to him?

Rich bastard.

What was the saying? 'When you assume you make an ass out of you and me'. Except right now, how he was acting made her feel like it was more her than him.

Haruhi's back straightened. "I don't have a car. Not everyone is as rich as you. And even if I was I wouldn't spend it on buying a car when a train or bus is just as good."

Kaoru's tense body relaxed and his laughter broke free, echoing off the pristine white walls. Standing there now, watching him tremble and gasp for breath, she saw how much he'd needed a good laugh. He'd needed something to tear through the stress. Something to get his mind off the constant calls from the police and off his worry for his only brother who was now rotting in a detention cell. Even if that something happened to be her commoner spirit.

"Thanks." He gasped between breaths. "Hikaru will get a kick out of that one."

Rolling her eyes she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.

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"Kaoru!"

"Hikaru!"

To her surprise she watched both men press up against the glass separating detainees from visitors. It was like watching someone make-out with a mirror, except this was only a hug and the other half wore a bright orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. Otherwise, both men were practically identical to each other.

Her eyes lifted to catch the guard at the door. Through all this he still had a neutral expression on his face. He had been trained well it seemed. Or, he'd seen stranger.

"Kaoru, it's horrible here! The food is disgusting, they're forcing me to wear this ugly jumpsuit, and they frisked me! They frisked me, Kaoru! I've never felt so violated. You have to get me out!" The one guard-side screamed after pulling away from their "hug" and plopping down into his seat.

Tears pooled in the younger man's eyes. "Don't worry! Once this is over we'll fly to France and we'll get you new clothes and-"

"It's nice to see you're both so optimistic..." The lawyer cut in. Reason one as to why she didn't want to allow the younger brother into the room. They were treating this like a social call!

_"You're not officially on the case until the paperwork is done. So you're just a visitor. Just. Like. Me." Kaoru voiced._

The offer of quality food afterward had been Kaoru's best bargaining technique.

Sighing, she turned back to the matter at hand.

Hikaru.

For someone who was close to being committed for murder she expected to see a little more urgency, but instead the eldest brother chatted away completely ignoring the female attorney beside his sibling. He handled things much better than his younger counterpart by far. But, still she didn't miss the little things that proved her her theory right. This was just a facade. You could see it in the way he twitched whenever someone moved or the light slur in his voice from sleep deprivation. He masked all these symptoms well enough though.

His face glowed with excitement. "How can I not be? You're getting paid to get me off the hook right?"

"I-It's not that easy!" She stuttered back in reply.

Those words fell onto deaf ears.

"Ne, Kaoru... Couldn't you have gotten a better looking one? She's hideous." He jumped up to get a better look at her. "Is that even a girl? There's absolutely no chest at all and her hair is so short she looks like a man! A really, really feminine man."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, I tried my best." Kaoru apologized. And much to her disbelief he actually looked down, ashamed.

The lawyer sighed. "I'm not here to look fashionable..."

"But you could at least try." They chorused.

Lawyers aren't supposed to be sexy, they're supposed to look presentable. If they wanted eye-candy they could've gone elsewhere.

"Kaoru, you don't look any better. We have the same face. If you look bad I look bad."

The younger glanced down at himself sheepishly as if just now he realized how unprofessional he looked. After all, he and his brother owned one of the leading fashion companies. Looking like he just rolled out of bed or worse was unacceptable in their field of work.

"Ah, well. I..." Kaoru scratched his head, avoiding his brother's stare. A smirk spread across his face and he met his brother's gaze again. "I didn't get much sleep last night without you there beside me."

Kaoru's voice rose slightly in pitch and he turned away as if embarrassed he'd actually said that in front of an audience. His body trembled beside her.

They still slept together at their age? Impossible! They had enough rooms to house at least one hundred people and the _chose_ to sleep together in the same room. How could any sibling be that close to one another?

The twin opposite her leaned forward in his chair. His mouth twitched slightly but then froze into a saddened frown. A cuffed hand lifted to touch the glass gingerly, as if pressing against it too hard would make it shatter.

"Kaoru..." Hikaru started, his eyes softening only for the younger man in front of him. "I understand. It's hard for me too. How can I sleep knowing that I've left you all alone. I wish I could be there to hold you. Can you ever forgive me? I'm such a horrible older brother."

To Haruhi's side Kaoru shot up, nearly knocking his seat to the floor. "Hikaru! Don't say things like that. I'll always forgive you."

The guard in the room shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another.

Okay, this was becoming really gay, really fast.

She coughed. "As much as I understand you miss each other we should get to business."

"Aww, she's boring, Kaoru. If you're gonna get me an ugly lawyer you could've at least made her interesting."

Ugly lawyer?

He shrugged, "I figured her plain looks meant she would be more interesting. At least we tried."

Plain?

Haruhi's body shook. Hate is a strong word, but she could apply it now and not feel any remorse for thinking it later.

"We should start with what you remember from that night." Pulling a notepad and pen from inside her bag she looked up at the older Hitachiin. "Can you tell me what you were doing around 6 pm?"

He froze.

Suddenly the confidence she once saw vanished, replaced now with unfocused eyes and slumped shoulders. Hikaru stared straight ahead, no longer seeing the two other occupants on the opposite side of the glass. His gaze dropped to stare at his clenched hands.

"My memory from then is...a little fuzzy."

Fuzzy? Fuzzy, is not going to work over well with the judge or the prosecutor. Fuzzy, is not going to save him from a possible life sentence or worse.

"You're going to have to give me more than that, Mr. Hitachiin. Otherwise..." She trailed off leaving him to fill in the blanks himself. He opened his mouth to talk then shut it quickly.

She watched his eyes flash from her back to his brother. He took in a shaky breath.

"Is something wrong?" She asked. She shifted her own eyes to glance at the man beside her.

Kaoru had now chosen to try to smooth the wrinkles out of his suit jacket rather than meet the dim eyes of his older brother.

"Nothing's wrong. I just don't remember what happened." Back straightened, and a deep frown forming on his face, Hikaru's gaze pierced hers. "Is that all for today? Or are you going to keep badgering me about things I can't tell you."

Is that all? They just got there! If he was going to blow her off to do better things in his _cell_ then she should just do the same to his case. We'll see how long someone like himself can last with some of the other men she'd seen sentenced earlier in her career.

All of which were much bigger, much more muscular, and had gone through a harder life than Mr. Millionaire in front of her.

"Mr. Hitachiin..."

"Look, I can't remember. So there's no point in asking me questions if I can't answer. Although, I should thank you for allowing Kaoru to visit me on such short notice."

Can't or wont remember?

Her brow furrowed. How much of that story is true?

She'd heard of such things happening in cases like this, but never expected to come face-to-face with one herself. Usually in cases like this the best idea would be to investigate in the insanity plea. But, he doesn't seem mentally unstable. In fact he seemed to be just fine. Perhaps it was shock. Maybe he was trying to block out what he had done.

Or maybe he was lying.

"Hikaru, please try to remember!" The younger brother now spoke up, frustrated tears threatening to fall. "I don't want anything to happen to you..."

He locked his eyes on the identical ones before him. And this simple action sent the confidence radiating off Hikaru to dissipate once more.

"I can't..." Once more the glazed look in his eyes returned. Hikaru's body crumpled into his chair and he raised his chained hands cradle his head. His eyes lowered to the floor. "It's not that easy. You don't understand. I can't. I really don't remember anything! All I remember is...is..."

Tears began to form in the older Hitachiin's eyes.

"If you can't, you can't." Two pairs of watery identical eyes stared back at her.

"I'll come back tomorrow and tell you what you can expect your sentence to be. Hopefully something will jog your memory by then." She met Hikaru's gaze then stood, grabbing her things as she left. Behind her footsteps followed.

"Kaoru... Wait, don't-"

The door slammed shut.

"I'm paying you to help him." Kaoru said, stopping her in her tracks.

She turned to face him. Unlike when they first entered the room Kaoru's own confidence had shattered once Hikaru's had.

She was reminded of the ying and yang symbol and how alike these two brothers were to its meaning. When the two halves combine they work in harmony. But if one disappears the other disappears as well. They cannot exist without each other.

To restore order she had to find the truth or else Kaoru would probably end up destroying himself.

"I will help him." She spoke gently. "But only if he cooperates."

"He's trying!"

"I don't doubt that, but he's given me little to work on."

_He's hiding something. It's either something that could hurt his case or something that could help it. I won't know until he trusts me a little more. Until then all we can do is wait and hope for the best._

"He can't remember. It's not his fault."

"This case won't last long if he doesn't give his side of the story." She pointed out.

"What if...?" Kaoru trailed off. He bit his lip and cast his gaze upward. "What if he doesn't have to?

"What do you mean?

"Maybe there's something back at our office. The one at the company."

The company that was closed off and was now full of police because a murder took place inside. This idea was already starting off on the wrong foot.

"That's a crime scene."

"I know but...maybe..." He grabbed her hand and began to drag her. Hopefully this wasn't going where she thought it was going. "Maybe Hikaru still has a chance."

"Can you please explain what you're trying to do?"

"Well." He smiled. "If no one's going to tell us what happened we'll just have to play detectives and find out ourselves."

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**Thanks for all the reviews guys! I really appreciate it and it makes me want to update faster~ I tried my best to make this chapter longer than the last so hopefully it's a good chapter size.**** Anyway, again if anything's out of place, OOC, or I have my facts wrong just let me know. Though you can expect a little OOC with this fic. It is AU. **

**Thanks to Liquidity for being my beta~  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC it belongs to Bisco Hatori**

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The car ride from the detention center to the Hitachiin building was a quiet one. Both Haruhi and Kaoru had climbed in and sat on opposite ends of the long limousine. One, looking out the window and to the sky, probably wishing she'd never given up her vacation time, and the other with his eyes closed planning his next move.

It had become clear to Kaoru from their oh-so-informative visit with Hikaru that something wasn't quite right. His brother was brash, rude, and sometimes slow on the uptake, but never one to forget important events. And this easily could be considered an important event. In fact, both of their futures rode on this.

Hell, they both had the same face. How would this effect him of all people? Would he be condemned too? All this because he was born identical to a murder suspect. Not to be misunderstood, Kaoru was proud to be Hikaru's twin. Just...not when the latter was in trouble. And for some reason Hikaru always found some way to get into trouble.

But that was why he loved his brother. He made nearly having a heart attack feel like he'd just won something.

Soon they slowed to a stop and light footsteps could be heard rounding the car. "Sir, we've arrived." The chauffeur pulled the door open and waited. "But, it doesn't seem as though they're letting anyone in today. Perhaps we should-"

Tuning out the man's words of reason, Kaoru stepped out of the limo. He turned to the girl and searched his brain for her name. It was on her card... What was it?

"Ne, Haruhi. It looks like it'll be a little more difficult to get in than we thought."

Difficult indeed. Like predators, swarms of men in blue circled the building with their hands casually cradling the gun holster at their sides. Around them a barricade of police cars sat, their lights flashing a bright red and blue. Passersby probably got a headache just from glancing over at the place.

The young lawyer hauled herself out of the limo and turned hardened eyes on him. "We?" She spoke. Her lips were pressed firmly together in a thin line, clearly irritated. "I don't recall suggesting we give up our day jobs and go gallivanting around to a crime scene pretending to be detectives. And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't call me by my first name, _Mr. Hitachiin_. It's unprofessional."

_Aww, how cute. She's angry._

Not that he cared. But at least he'd gotten her name right.

"Wha- Where are you going?" Her brown eyes widened giving him an incredulous stare. "You can't really be planning on just walking through the front door."

Spinning, Kaoru gave her a wide toothy grin and pointed behind himself. "Of course not! Our building and the one next to it connects in the back. I bet the police haven't figured that out yet."

"No, I suppose they haven't figured that out yet..." With slumped shoulders she trudged after him.

The defeated frown on his new partner in crime was enough to almost make him feel sorry for the girl. Almost. After all he didn't want to chase her away yet, she was too much fun. Something drew him to her.

Maybe it was his inner fashion police screaming at him to give her a make-over.

"Is there a reason these buildings connect?" Ah, the dreaded time had come. The lawyer beside him began to spring into action.

"It used to be used for receiving shipments."

"And now?"

"Storage."

The two stopped in front of a gate, behind it stood a much shorter building than the fourteen story one that was now set as their destination. It clearly hadn't seen much use as of late, but for being only a storage building it still held the same amount of sparkle and gleam as the main one. Looking at it now one would have expected they did business inside this one as well.

"I don't have my keys on me so we'll have to improvise a little." Haruhi's brow perked up at that. She stared at the man who had now turned to inspect the obstacle before them.

"Improvise?" This did not please her at all.

"It'll be fun. It'll be just like in those commoner movies Hikaru and I used to watch!" Kaoru's eyes sparkled with joy and a nostalgic smile graced his lips.

Should she? She really didn't want to, but...

"What...kind of commoner movies?"

"Indiana Jones!" He beamed.

Oh, God...Now all they had to do was find a whip, an old hat, and a boulder to run away from and they'd be set to star in their very own action-packed drama.

"We'll have to climb over the gate that was used to let the loading trucks in..." Kaoru scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "And since you're lighter than me, I figured I could lift you over and you could let me in."

Haruhi's finger's curled into a tight fist. "I'm wearing a skirt."

He chuckled nervously, "Ah...I won't look. I promise."

"No." Kaoru's face fell.

"But-"

"I'm a lawyer, I'm here to represent your brother not climb over fences and do stunts like Indiana Jones."

Her employer sighed and kicked an offending pebble beside his foot. It seemed to her by the somber look in his eyes and slumped posture that she'd truly crushed him. She ran a hand over her face and sighed.

"So...where is your key?" She asked after a moment of silence.

He jumped. "I misplaced it. It's probably in one of my coat pockets at home."

"Ah."

Another pause.

Well this certainly was a good enough excuse to pack up and go home for the night, because there was no way to get inside and like hell was she going to-

A rustle of fabric caught her attention. Her head snapped up to see the young man removing his suit jacket and shuffling over to the gate. She was surprised to see him actually try to secure his foot between one of the gates bars and lift an arm up to grasp another higher bar. His arms shook under the weight of his lower body. Still he continued to pull himself up.

What didn't surprise her was the loud thud of a body hitting the ground and the hiss of pain that followed soon after. Making her way over to the fallen twin who now lay back flat on the ground, she knelt down and offered out her hand.

He stared up at her, his face now colored a bright red. For a moment she didn't think he'd take her offer but soon enough he sat up and allowed her to help him onto his unsteady feet.

It didn't work and he stumbled into her causing Haruhi to be crushed to Kaoru's chest and smothered in the soft fabric of his shirt when he tried to grip something to keep his unsteady legs upright. She was so close she could smell the light mix of cologne and musk emanating from his body. His heartbeat echoed in her ears.

After finding his footing Kaoru straightened and loosened then removed his grip on the small brunette's shoulders, finally allowing her to push away. Neither Haruhi or Kaoru could meet the others gaze.

"Sorry...You weren't going to try so I though that I might..." She watched as the blush returned to Kaoru's face. He crossed his arms defensively and turned to the gate once more.

The lawyer shook her head, a small smile gracing her lips, and moved towards the gate. Seconds later she was studying all aspects of the barrier, calculating a plan in her head while Kaoru watched on in silence. "If you lift me I can pull myself up on that ledge right there and climb down on the other side. It would be easier than the way you tried it."

His head snapped up and he gave her a wide-eyed stare before moving over to the gate. He gave her a warm smile. "Thank you."

Haruhi nodded. He had her all wrong. This didn't mean giving in to his detective plan, it just meant she was tired of standing around doing nothing while she could be getting real work done. The sooner this was over the sooner she could actually start attempting to save his brother.

He crouched down slightly being careful not to mess up his already mussed attire further and linked his hands in what looked like a cradle. Nodding, he spoke. "Ready?"

"Keep your eyes on the ground." She warned, climbing onto his offered hand and carefully balancing herself to grip onto the barred gate.

He gave an offended scoff. "You're treating me as though I'm one of your commoner friends." He gave a grunt and, looking towards the ground, began to lift her. "Unlike them I was raised to be a gentleman."

She could only roll her eyes at that.

"Hurry up, you're heavy."

Noting the sudden shakiness of her once stable footing she hurried to pull herself up and over the gate. She stared down at the ground beneath her and her dangling feet. Haruhi took a deep breath and lowered herself carefully on the other side. She was met with Kaoru's beaming face on the opposite end of the gate.

"There should be a button." He pointed.

She pressed it and the gate slowly creaked to life.

Without a second glance Kaoru flew past her and inside the storage house. She followed.

Kaoru disappeared once they got inside. It was too dark to see and he vowed he would find the door quickly seeing as he'd been in there plenty of times when he was younger. But somehow that didn't make her feel any better. Maybe it was because she had to stand alone in the dark. Or maybe it was because if anything happened she had no way of knowing where to go because she'd first trip over all the clutter around her.

For what seemed like the hundredth time since Kaoru had wandered off Haruhi glanced over her shoulder. It was eerie being in a building that a murder had taken place just hours before. The feeling increased ten-fold just knowing neither of them had been invited into said building. And to make matters worse, she'd entered it while trusting a complete stranger whose brother just so happened to be the murder suspect.

In fact, they were twins...

What if they had arrested the wrong one? What if she was sneaking around with the real murderer?

_That's it. It's time to leave._

"Where are you going?" Damn, if only it had been darker. "I found the door. We can go through here and use the emergency stairs to get to the office."

And now instead of stunt men they were spies.

As if picking up on her uneasiness Kaoru's eyes softened. "If you want to leave you can. You've done enough for the day."

Haruhi let out an audible sigh.

"However, it wouldn't look good if your client was caught sneaking through a crime scene while you wait knowingly in the car."

_...God dammit._

"Let's go."

He gave her a bright smile. "This is going to be better than any commoner movie I've ever seen!"

"Might I remind you that-" He happily skipped through the door, not even bothering to check for police on the other side.

_This isn't a movie..._

* * *

"It's a mess..." Kaoru scrunched up his nose and surveyed the ransacked room. Papers were scattered, the computer had somehow toppled onto the floor, and one couldn't forget the rather large blood stain still decorating the middle of the carpeted room.

Kaoru however had managed to somehow keep his eyes from dawdling on the stain and distract himself with other issues.

"I found my watch!" His whole face glowed and Haruhi had to wonder if he'd just been told the secret to the universe.

"Put that down! Don't touch anything, don't move anything. Just look. We don't want unnecessary fingerprints everywhere." She whispered harshly. "And lower your voice."

"It's my office... My fingerprints are already going to be everywhere!" He whispered back.

He had a point. But that didn't stop her from giving him the stink eye.

"Fine." He begrudgingly put it down. "I can't believe you're trying to make me look bad."

"Trying to make you look bad?" She wanted to bash her head into a wall. Maybe she'd make a hole similar to the small one she'd seen while creeping up the many flights of stairs. "I'm sure you've got plenty more at home."

"But this is my best one, and it matches better with the suit I'm wearing to court!"

"Buy a new one." Kaoru gave her a glare then moved to examine around Hikaru's desk further. This allowed Haruhi to begin her own investigation.

She had to be quick. They probably didn't have much time.

Coming up here they had heard the men chatting about being on break. This left only one officer to man the outside of this office, but conveniently he was young, and probably stupid. It was confirmed when he left his post to go visit a female officer in the room next door.

She didn't see anything. Nothing at all. It was just an office with a bloodstain in the middle of the floor. Was she missing something?

Movement and then a jingle caught her ears. She looked up to see Kaoru slipping his hand into his pocket.

"What was that?" She sped over to him and pulled his hand out of his pocket. There was nothing but loose change.

"Something wrong?" His eyes met hers and he put a concerned frown on his face.

"I thought... It looked like..." She looked around him and returned her gaze to his face. He looked slightly upset by her actions now.

"I didn't take anything if that's what you're thinking. See, just change. I even left the watch just like you said."

"Ah..."

"But anyway I think we should leave. They'll be coming back soon." He started for the door, peeked out, then jumped back inside.

The door was pushed open roughly. A tall man stepped in sporting a small blond boy on his back. In the boy's arms a bunny rested.

"You're not authorized to be here." The older man spoke, his deep voice echoed inside Haruhi's already pounding head. Her eyes floated to the badge on his shirt then to the rest of his official attire.

_Oh God, oh God, oh God. _They were caught. What about her badge? What about her job? Are they going to jail?

"Ne, Takashi she has a badge. She's a lawyer! But she's not the lawyer on our side is she?" The large man shook his head, no.

"So then she's not our friend?" Once again he shook his head.

Tears prickled the boys eyes and he sniffed, hugging his bunny closer. He jumped down and stood before the two. It was then she noted that the boy also had a badge. His much larger, and shinier than the man towering over him. It also read: Head Detective.

He inspected Kaoru then spoke again. "I'm sorry. Once this is over we can be friends. But until then," His expression changed from tearful to dark. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I won't report this, but next time you bring a suspect or any associate of a suspect I'll have your badge removed."

Haruhi gulped and nodded numbly.

The blond smiled brightly at this doing a complete turnabout. "Good! Takashi, please escort them out. And don't forget to offer them some of the cake downstairs! It'd be rude not to."

The man named Takashi lifted large hands and set them on both her and Kaoru's shoulders, lightly pushing them out of the room.

"Would you like cake?" He asked.

No, in fact she didn't think she would be hungry for a long time.

* * *

Kaoru dropped her off at her house. For now no words were being exchanged between the two. The shock of being caught clearly had affected both of them but for some reason Kaoru seemed much more on edge than she ever since coming back. His hands on the ride home had constantly been idly fingering something in his pocket, and nothing seemed to be able to distract him away from it.

Haruhi sighed and crouched down to retrieve a small package that had been left out in front of her door. Walking into the small apartment she began to tear through the wrapping all the while removing her shoes and sitting down at her desk.

It was the paperwork for the trial, officially stamped and ready for her signature to seal her fate with the Hitachiin brothers. Her eyes lazily read over the fine print.

She froze.

No one had even dared to mention that the prosecutor on this case would be Kyouya Ohtori.

* * *

**Another chapter finished~ You don't know how hard it was for me to even start this chapter. I went on spring vacation and when I came back I kind of went into lazy mode. But it's done now! Hopefully you guys like it. I will say this: _It's time to start paying attention._**

**I won't be updating this until I catch up on my other fic "Not Afraid to Dream". I've kind of been neglecting it. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please review to tell me what you think. Questions are fun to answer too, although I can't promise I'll tell you what you want to know.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own OHSHC**

* * *

"Your prosecutor is Kyouya Ohtori." Haruhi spoke, organizing her paperwork into a pile. Hikaru sat in front of her, this time no glass separated them. There was only a table and a guard. "Your possible charges are: aggravated manslaughter, illegal possession of a firearm, resisting arrest, and…please listen, Mr. Hitachiin."

Hikaru snapped upright in his seat. "I was…"

"You've been staring at the table for quite a while now." Haruhi sighed.

"I didn't get much sleep last night."

"I heard…" The woman opened her mouth to continue but was immediately cut off.

"It's disgusting looking isn't it?" Hikaru whined, pointing to his right eye. It was swollen almost completely shut, and a dark ringed bruise had formed around it. He looked like he wanted to cry. "All I wanted was another snack! It was the only good thing I've had for days, and when I grabbed another one, twenty men jumped me and stole it. I didn't do anything to deserve that!"

'_I'm sure it wasn't twenty men…'_

"Then, my ce—...roommate..." He scrunched up his face in distaste. It seemed he couldn't quite make himself say the word 'cell' yet. "My roommate decided it'd be funny to steal my pillow and blanket then threaten me if I tried to take it back. That's how I got this…"

He pointed to a long gash in his lip.

"I got him back though." He smiled brightly. It was short lived however. "But, then that's how I got this…"

He pointed to a bruise forming on the left side of his face. He hunched over, cradling his head in his hands. "I'm a mess…"

Haruhi felt a pang of sympathy invade her usually stoic heart. Usually, she could go about these cases without actually opening her heart to her clients. It made things easier that way, especially since she learned early on that clients will trick you into believing their lies, then leave you to flounder in front of the judge when your defense is shot down.

But, Hikaru was pathetic. He looked absolutely miserable. Uncombed hair, bruised face, and slurred voice, you would think he was being tortured rather than just being held in custody.

"Hikaru." The lawyer started, her eyes softening and voice losing its usual edge. "The faster you cooperate with me, the sooner I can get you out of here. In fact, I think I could convince them you're not a threat. You could get out on house arrest if I ask."

Hikaru's face lit up. He straightened in his chair, all eyes on her. "You think so?"

"Only if you cooperate with my questions today."

His face fell. She let them sit in silence, letting him stew over the options. He could either keep being difficult and stay in hell, or cooperate and go home to Kaoru. The frown on his face deepened.

"What do you want to know?"

Haruhi let out a relieved sigh. "Did you know the victim?"

"He was my employee."

"Did he work well?"

Hikaru closed his eyes and leaned back into his seat. "Yeah, I guess. Lately his work had begun to get sloppy though. That's why I scheduled that damn meeting."

"Meeting?" Haruhi asked. She scribbled diligently on her notepad and then looked back up at the eldest Hitachiin. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure you've heard of it." He waved a cuffed hand, and sent her a bored stare. "I asked him to come, he did, I was late, he died."

"You were late?" Hikaru stiffened sensing his slip up. "Why were you late?"

"I…don't remember." He mumbled. The floor suddenly became the most interesting thing in the room to him. He picked at his pants absently.

That pause was oh so convincing.

"You don't remember where you were before getting to the room?" The lawyer repeated.

He shook his head.

She scribbled on the pad once more, this time however she found herself gaining an audience. Hikaru leaned over, trying to catch what she was writing. Haruhi looked up and he quickly plopped back down into his seat.

"What do you remember?" She spoke, making Hikaru jump.

"I…" He trailed off. "You already know. It's in your report, right?"

"Mr. Hitachiin—" Haruhi started.

"My name is Hikaru! Not, 'Mr. Hitachiin', _just_ Hikaru! I'm tired of you calling me that." He huffed, slamming his hands down on the table. His shoulders were tense, shaking.

This outburst gained the attention of the guard. He moved closer to the table, his hand moving to his side. Haruhi's eyes darted from the guard then back to the furious face of her client. But, although his face was red with anger, and muscles tense, his eyes were filled with fear.

What had she touched upon to cause this reaction?

"Is it so hard for you? Can't you just believe what I say?" He shook harder now. He stood abruptly, knocking his chair to the floor. He leaned over the table, pressing closer to Haruhi. "You're supposed to trust your client, that's what a lawyer does. If you don't trust me how can you help me?"

Haruhi stood with a growl. Her own hands slammed on the table and she pressed her face close to Hikaru's.

'_It's time to get serious. I can't keep letting this man run me around in circles, nothing will get done.'_

"I'll start believing you when you start telling me the truth." She hissed.

"I am!" His hands slammed against the table once more, a threat.

"Are you? Or is this an act?" Her eyes burned into his. "You don't want your brother to know what really happened, do you? This is why you wouldn't talk when he was here last time, and this is why you won't tell me anything now. You're scared I'm going to go back and tell him. Am I right?"

She could see him grinding his teeth. She hit the mark; maybe another nudge would break him.

"I don't care what you tell Kaoru." He said, but his voice had dropped in volume and he looked more on edge than before.

"Hikaru…" She spoke, her voice soft, and her eyes warm. "I need you to trust me. I'm not going to walk out of here and tell anyone anything. Not until the trial. And, once you can trust me I'll trust you."

This wasn't the normal lawyer-client policy, but Hikaru as far as she could see, was not an ordinary case.

The twin's shoulders slumped and he sat back down in his chair. In the heat of the moment, neither had noticed the guard creep up on them. He now stood at Hikaru's side. His hand lift to sit on Hikaru's shoulder.

"Time." The guard tapped his watch and Hikaru stood, his eyes locked on Haruhi's.

"I…don't remember much, honestly." He pleaded. "So much was going on that day. I was so angry I wasn't thinking clearly…I don't know if I did it or not. I just remember waking up, he was dead and I was in handcuffs.

The brunette frowned.

"How bad is it?" Hikaru questioned, his face curled into a worried grimace. He fought slightly against the guard to buy more time.

"It doesn't look good, Hikaru."

"But, I can't leave Kaoru…"

"I'm going to do my best to find out what happened." The lawyer spoke. "But, be prepared. It may be something you may not want to hear."

The handcuffed man went slack, and let himself be dragged behind barred doors.

* * *

"What…" Haruhi's mouth dropped in awe.

The Hitachiin household had been torn to pieces. Papers were scattered on the floor, furniture thrown and tossed in odd places, and locks on the doors broken. Around Haruhi, much like before, there was the hustle and bustle of maids working, but now they seemed to be working harder.

Each maid zipped around trying to right the topsy-turvy house.

She recognized a slumped figure sitting silently on the steps, his eyes distant. He didn't even notice her standing next to him until she spoke his name. He looked up, eyes red. A hand raised, absently wiping away any moisture on his face.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you here today." He said. The man raised an arm, showcasing the torn apart home. "As you can see, you aren't the only unexpected visitor to come. The police decided to drop by."

"Search warrant?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Apparently, they have reason to believe I may be withholding evidence, or that Hikaru is hiding something here without my knowledge. They took our computers, laptops, most of our files, and something else I didn't see."

"You're lucky. They could have arrested you if they suspected you were withholding."

His hand flew to his pocket at her words. "I need to talk to you…"

* * *

"We got everything you wanted!" A bouncy voice called, skipping into the room. In the short blonde's hands were several files. Behind him his partner carried two laptops and a hard drive.

A dark haired man pushed up his glasses, his eyes glowing with interest. He sat in a large chair, a laptop before him on his expensive mahogany desk. The name plaque facing the two that just entered the room read "Kyouya Ohtori".

The man's lips curled upwards in a smirk. "Tamaki, it's time to leave. I have work to do."

On the side sitting on a couch a man whined. He jumped up, blonde hair bouncing with him as made his way over to the Ohtori's desk.

"B-but I just got here!" Large blue eyes filled with tears.

"You shouldn't have come so unexpectedly, you know I have work to do."

The tall blonde whined once more. "But you always have work to do! I need to talk to you."

"Tamaki." A stern voice warned. Dark eyes flashed angrily at the whining blonde, and with a huff Tamaki stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Kyouya paid no mind. His eyes were already scanning the spoils his police force had found. Skilled hands quickly turned on Hikaru's laptop.

"How was the brother?" Kyouya asked, although he really could care less. He had what he wanted.

Hunny's face fell. "He was really angry when we came in, Takashi had to calm him down. After that he looked really sad. He cooperated though."

The dark haired man nodded.

"This is password protected." He stated causing the two before him to stiffen. "Do you have it?"

"No…" Hunny trailed off. "But we can go get it."

"Forget it." Kyouya scoffed. "There are other ways to get into a computer system."

Within seconds quick fingers began to hack into the laptop.

* * *

In Kaoru's hand a key dangled. His face was grim, but Haruhi couldn't seem to understand why. After all it was just a key.

"You locked us in your office just to show me a key?" Haruhi asked cautiously. It obviously was an issue that was important to the man before her.

His frown deepened.

"This is my office key." He began, twirling the object on his finger. "I keep it in my coat pocket at all times."

Haruhi tried her best to stay interested in this conversation.

"Hikaru had lost his the day before when he dropped it in a sewer drain. Until we could get a new one made, we shared this one, but the day of the murder it disappeared." He stopped twirling it. "I found this in our office on his desk yesterday."

She had to bite her tongue. _'I told you not to touch anything.'_

"So he stole it?"

"He would never steal anything from me." Kaoru said. He glowed with confidence at his last statement.

"Then how did it get there?" She asked.

"That's what I can't figure out. Whenever Hikaru needed to get into the room he would just come to me and ask." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Maybe I dropped it. I don't know, but I know during the murder neither of us had it."

_'He hopes that's true at least.'_ Haruhi thought.

"You think someone else stole it and used it to get into the room?" Kaoru nodded enthusiastically.

"Exactly!" He smiled. "And that means it wasn't Hikaru!"

"You stole this Kaoru, you could go to jail." Kaoru's face fell as she spoke. "Not to mention you stole it while the police had a search warrant for that room. "Haruhi's heart dropped. "We may not be able to use this as evidence."

* * *

**It's been a while...Sorry. My excuse is that I just graduated from high school! Yay class of 2009~**

**Anyway, this chapter has a lot of information in it and it's not humorous at all. Things are starting to get serious, so it'll probably stay like that for a while. I kind of what to know what you guys think when it comes to if Hikaru really did it or not. **

**Do you think it was him? If not what are you thinking right now? Review and tell me please. Or just give me comments or suggestions.**


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

**I DO NOT OWN OHSHC!**

* * *

"Okay, so you're telling me this guy stole a key that could be crucial evidence to solving your case, but because it was stolen you can't use it?" Mei leaned forward on a small table, using her elbows to support her tired head as she watched Haruhi pace the room. They had been going over Haruhi's problems for hours now, at least it seemed like hours to her, but this was just a normal process as Haruhi's best friend; she was always used to venting when things went wrong. "Why not? Can't you just tell the judge about the evidence? I mean it _is _still evidence."

Haruhi paused and let out a sigh. "The point is to keep both clients out of jail, not take one out and put the other in."

"I don't know why you're trying to help him. Your job is to keep your client out of jail, what happens to his brother doesn't matter," Mei snapped back.

It was clear Mei was at her breaking point when it came to suppressing her boredom. This case meant nothing to her, so why did she have to listen to this nonsense? Besides that, Haruhi couldn't tell her anything more than the fact that her client's brother stole evidence. Everything else was 'confidential' as Haruhi called it. So she only got maybe one-third of the whole story.

Haruhi didn't seem at all fazed by Mei's outburst. She expected it with her friend's usual short-tempered personality. It was almost like speaking to Hikaru except Mei was female; the heavy makeup and the presence of breasts confirmed that fact. "He's paying for this trial along with my vacation expenses."

Mei perked up at that. "He's paying for all of that? If he can pay for that you can get him to pay my rent, I'm behind."

Haruhi rolled her eyes and sat down at the small table, opposite the other woman. She took a long, calming sip of her tea and spoke, "He has to save his fashion business first, there have been strikes against buying or wearing anything made by or supported by the Hitachiin company. Of course there are a few others that are still supporting him, but if the trial turns for the worse…"

"Hitachiin!" Mei shot up, nearly tipping over the table and her cheap tea while she was at it. Her face was glowing with excitement. This was the most energetic Haruhi had ever seen her apart from the times she was gloating over her newest project. "You have to get his autograph for me! In fact—" Mei zipped across the room, scattering items in her wake as she kicked them out of the way to get her bag near the door. "Get him to approve these. Say he has to approve it before you go any further in helping his brother."

Haruhi slapped the palm of her hand into her face. Did she not just go over how the Hitachiin's were in financial crisis? Sometimes it was like the woman before her only heard what she wanted to hear. In fact, Haruhi was very sure of that fact.

"I refuse."

Mei's face darkened. "You refuse?" The woman descended upon her, designs meant for Kaoru in hand. Her shadow cast dangerously over the still unfazed lawyer. "I guess I won't give you my suggestion to help you then."

"Suggestion?" This seemed to snag Haruhi's attention well. She was itching for anything, anything at all that may relieve her from the predicament she was in, but was essentially blackmailing Kaoru worth it? If she didn't take the offer and it really was useful, she would be at a loss. Swallowing hard, Haruhi shook her head. No, she would not do that to them.

"Are you sure?" Mei questioned, pressing closer, her eyes burning with an intimidating passion.

Haruhi shook her head again, albeit much more reluctantly than the first time. She truly was curious, no matter how hard she tried to keep the façade of having no interest at all. Mei's designs were elegant, but this was not a good time to advertise that.

"Fine…" Mei stood, reaching for her bag and showing herself out the door. "You'll never know."

"That's fine. I'll call you later and tell you how the case is going. I'm sure it'll be in the news anyway."

Mei nodded. "Bye."

"Bye," Haruhi waved.

"Are you sure?" Mei returned, her blond hair poking from the cracked door.

"I'm sure. Now, I've got work to do and a dinner with Kaoru in an hour. So…" Haruhi waved once more.

"A dinner?" Mei sang, now interested in said dinner rather than getting the recognition for her designs.

"He's paying me back on a promise he owes me."

"I bet that's not all."

"That _is_ all. It's a business meeting over dinner. Nothing else." Haruhi turned to Mei once more. "If you want to help me organize those files over there you're welcome to stay."

Mei turned her nose up in disgust and slammed the door shut without another word.

Sighing, Haruhi spread her work before her, analyzing the case in detail.

So far she only had Hikaru's words, and the key to go on. That, and the evidence against Hikaru that pointed to his guilt: the gun, his lack of alibi, and ultimately the main thing signaling his doom, his lack of memory.

How was she supposed to walk into court next week without some kind of evidence, some kind of hope to tell her that it was all right to put her job on the line for this stranger? There had to be something else, maybe if she looked closer she could—

A rapid knocking caught her attention.

"Oh, you're still here?" Haruhi asked, opening the door to Mei's downtrodden face.

"There's another way," she mumbled, arms crossed.

"You already told me that, and we've already gone over the fact that I'm not going to bribe my client."

"The fingerprints on the key," Mei let herself back in, walking straight past Haruhi and towards the tiny bag the lawyer had secured the key inside. It was as if she didn't mind at all that she had just intruded. The woman pulled the bag close to her face, and then turned to Haruhi once more. "I know someone who knows someone who _may_ be able to help you identify the prints."

Haruhi's whole body seemed to stiffen as the words washed over her. If they got the fingerprints she would at least know who had stolen the key, and even if she couldn't use that in court it would still help her point the finger at a suspect.

Her shoulders slumped, as if a huge weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you, Mei."

"Hey, I just figured if you got on good terms with these guys, and saved them, I would probably have a better chance of being accepted."

* * *

Although four-star restaurants usually catered to stuck up, rich bastards who only cared about themselves, Haruhi never expected this. The atmosphere as soon as she and Kaoru walked in was heavy, and she felt as if them walking in was the equivalent to a homeless man stumbling in begging for change. She didn't even know half of these people, and already she could feel the hatred hidden behind their cold stares. They were unwanted.

"This is your first time in a place like this, right?" Kaoru spoke. She looked up at him. Unlike her, he did not seem at all nervous about their situation, but he had probably gotten used to such treatment over the past few days. "Hikaru and I come here all the time with clients. Don't worry, I guarantee you'll love the food."

From across the room Haruhi could see a group of employees had gathered, all of which were staring at them. When she caught their eyes, they turned away. Finally, the youngest in the group of mumbling servers stepped forward. He walked over, his chest puffed out and fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white, but all the while he held an unwavering smile.

"My name is Toji, I'll be your waiter this evening. If you'll follow me, I can take you to your table." He said all this without ever looking them in the eye. Instead, he stared past them, at the wall. Toji then turned all too quickly and began to walk away, but not before giving his friends a thumbs up. They dispersed, going to work on their tables once more.

"Your table was upgraded to a booth, we hope you don't mind," Toji said, still smiling. Now however, there was a slight waver in his voice.

"I do mind," Kaoru spoke up. His eyes narrowed, but his voice was still as calm as it was when they first entered. "Whenever I come here we get the table beside the window. I didn't think I had to specifically ask anymore. I haven't had to before."

"New management," the waiter answered quickly.

"Oh?" Kaoru straightened. "Can I meet them?"

"Ah…that may not be a good idea. He's been really busy getting acquainted with the new place."

"Then I'd like to offer my good wishes."

"I'll be sure to tell him that!"

"I meant in person," Kaoru elaborated. The man turned around, smile vanished from his face. He was shaking now, and searching the room for help.

"You know," Kaoru frowned, but kept his voice gentle as not to upset the young man further. "Lying can get you fired. I just want to know why I wasn't given my normal—"

"Mr. Hitachiin." An older man appeared, patting Kaoru on the back in a friendly manner. He wore a broad, strained smile, and his eyes were dark, void of any of the cheerfulness on his face. "It's nice to see you again."

They shared a firm handshake, and then the man turned Kaoru gently, prodding him to continue in the direction of the booth. Haruhi followed silently after, watching Kaoru from behind. His shoulders were tense, and by the stiff way he walked it was clear the situation was finally getting to him.

"Since we saw you invited a beautiful young lady along tonight, we decided to give you a little more privacy. We were hoping you wouldn't mind," the man continued.

"Your waiter Toji told me you had been replaced," Kaoru ground out. His voice had more of an edge now, and he was watching both manager and employee with hard eyes.

"He's new here, Mr. Hitachiin, you have to understand—"

"What I understand," Kaoru spoke, his voice never rising, but it didn't have to, to convey the amount of anger that was flowing through him, "is that you're placing my guest and myself in a corner, rather than in the area I asked for."

Haruhi bit her lip. She had seen this coming, but still she was unprepared for the revealing of the manager's true plot.

The older man took a wary step back, wearing an expression of absolute shock. No doubt, he was already working up a scheme in his head to weasel his way out of the situation. He bounced back, putting the same dry smile on his wrinkled face.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. Perhaps I can move you to another table. Is that acceptable?"

"Is it the table I asked for?"

"Another couple claimed that table before you arrived. I'm sorry."

His hands enveloped Haruhi's, and he looked at her with a frown. "Sorry, Haruhi, I can't fulfill my promise tonight. Do you mind if we leave?"

She shook her head. No, she did not mind at all. The stares had been grating on her for the longest time now, making her feel dirty. It would be a blessing to get away from this building.

"I'm fine with leaving," she answered.

Kaoru visibly relaxed, and without another word to the manager, he wheeled them away outside, back to the awaiting limo. It wasn't until they got inside that he spoke again.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting such treatment. I mean, I should have, but…" He leaned his head back into the comfort of the limo's leather seat, closing his eyes. "I never really thought about what would happen to me if Hikaru is found guilty. If it's just like this now, then what's it going to be like later…"

He cut himself off, instead moving to stare outside to watch the night-lights pass by them. He seemed to be in a daze, no longer thinking about the woman seated beside him.

"Mr. Hita—" She paused, and he turned his worried eyes onto her.

One could plainly see how distraught he was, and she had learned from Hikaru that it was when they were distraught that they needed a friend the most. Not some lawyer throwing her weight around to try and get information.

"Kaoru, I can't promise you that things will go the way we want them to." The name rolled off her tongue awkwardly, and she had to will herself not to fall back to her formal teachings. "But, I will do the best I can for you and your brother."

To her side, she could see a smile grace Kaoru's lips. "I know. I trust you."

Haruhi was taken aback. "You do?"

"Hikaru told me yesterday that he trusts you, and if he trusts you, then I do too."

"You two really value what the other thinks," Haruhi sighed, leaning back into the leather seat comfortably. She turned soft eyes onto the man next to her. "It's really nice to see a bond like that. Those don't exist much anymore, most siblings hate each other."

Kaoru nodded. "You're right, they don't, but I guess it's because I think of Hikaru as more my best friend, than a brother."

"A best friend that was born next to you." The lawyer looked out the window, a dream-like smile on her face. "I used to have something similar to that."

"You had a sibling?" The twin asked. He sat up straight, now interested.

"No, my mother. We did everything together when I was younger." She looked over at Kaoru, a sad tone setting in her eyes. "I had other friends, but she was the one I could count on the most, next to my dad when he wasn't working."

"You're lucky to have such caring parents."

"You could say that."

Haruhi let out a deep sigh. When she walked out of the house an hour ago she had not expected for the past to creep upon her. It would probably have been for the best if she hadn't decided to crush her indifferent demeanor towards her clients. That way she wouldn't have made a fool out of herself, rambling on about nonsense of her childhood.

"When Hikaru and I were younger, our parents would always plan vacations to make up for leaving us to go work," Kaoru started. He turned away from her, shoulders tense. He seemed unsure of himself, as if he didn't want to continue. "But, time after time, something would come up, and it was always pushed back."

He reached a hand out, bringing his finger to gently lift her downturned head.

"You are lucky, Haruhi. It's stories like yours, that makes me want to have kids that view me in the same light that you do your mother."

The limo pulled to a stop in front of Haruhi's apartment, and the chauffer quickly rounded to open the passenger door.

"Thank you," she smiled. She waved, and then turned to make the trek up the many stairs to her door.

"Haruhi?"

The woman turned back around, confusion clear on her face.

Kaoru stood, leaning idly against the open car door, his hazel eyes watching her. "It's okay to keep calling me Kaoru. I kind of like it."

With a quick turn, Haruhi ran the rest of the way up the stairs, never looking back.

* * *

"I finally get to meet the brave lawyer who dared to take such a tough case. Are you sure you want to risk this? You seem young, it's too early in your career to ruin such a clean reputation isn't it, Miss. Fujioka," a black haired male spoke, dark eyes watching her through his glasses. He extended his hand.

Haruhi paused, and then hesitantly moved her hand to take his in a firm shake. She gazed upward at him with confusion in her eyes. Usually, when older, more experienced lawyers in her field would give her advice she would nod and thank them, but this time was different.

"You're no older than me are you, Mr. Ohtori? Should you really be giving me advice?" she asked.

The Ohtori's lips twitched upward in what looked like a grin, but his offense to her words shined through. "Yes, but I'm not the one getting in over my head, am I? I've seen what you've submitted. You'll never be able to win this case, not with what little evidence you have. So, Ms. Fujioka, I would take my advice with open arms if I were you."

He stepped forward. "The only way to keep your reputation is to plead guilty. You won't lose the case, and it'll make things easier on both the family of the victim, and your client's brother."

"That won't make things easier for him. It'll only make things worse. Besides," Haruhi straightened, puffing her chest out in indignation, "Kaoru's strong, and we both know Hikaru is innocent. Lying and saying he's guilty will only be helping you."

The attorney chuckled, breaking the heavy tension that weighed down the air. He absently pushed his glasses up on his face. "If you see it that way. I, however, feel it's in your best interests."

"I'm sorry to say your best interests don't match mine."

"I'm sorry too, Ms. Fujioka." He looked down upon her form one last time before turning. "Oh, and I heard the youngest Hitachiin making some sort of commotion in the men's restroom. You might want to check on him."

Haruhi's heart jumped, and an awful feeling washed over her. She was down the hall before the Ohtori could even start his trek back to the victim's family. All that she could think about at that moment was Kaoru. What kind of commotion did he mean? Was something wrong? By the sound of it however, it had to have been. That smug tone of his had transformed at the mention of Kaoru, almost like he had been truly concerned.

It wasn't until she reached the men's restroom that it dawned on Haruhi that before she could confront the problem inside, she had to first solve the sign on the door. It was the men's room. Unless she argued she was transgendered, she doubted she would be getting in without a few stares.

"Kaoru…" She knocked gingerly on the door, only to be knocked aside by a hefty male exiting the room. It was probably for the best though, there was no way Kaoru would have been able to hear her if he were deeper inside.

"Kaoru!" she tried again, louder this time.

"I'm here…" He emerged slowly from the bathroom, a grim frown on his face.

"Are you okay?"

He ran a shaky hand through his hair. Her question was stupid. By the looks of things he was not okay. He looked almost as bad as he had when she'd met him for the first time.

"Honestly? No, I was getting sick, but that doesn't matter. How did you know I was here?" he asked, looking down at her with curious eyes.

"Someone said something about a disturbance."

"Hmm…" He turned away, rubbing an arm uncomfortably.

"Do you need to go home?"

"I'm not missing the trial, besides, its just nerves," Kaoru said. He looked down at himself, and then straightened his mussed clothes. "It's just, you have nothing to support Hikaru, and what we did have I ruined."

"Not entirely," she rummaged through her bag. "Before court, both the prosecution and the defense must first submit their evidence to back their case. I don't have as much physical evidence as the prosecution, but I do have enough to put doubt in the judge's head. As long as there is doubt, he won't make a ruling."

"What physical evidence…" Kaoru asked, leaning closer when Haruhi pulled out a file.

Haruhi's small finger ran down the many listed words, then paused, pointing at one in particular. It read 'Crime Scene photo 3'.

"A photo?"

Haruhi nodded. "And this is just what we needed. I've seen the picture, and there's something strange in it. There was an item there when the police first arrived, but when we came by a few days later it was gone. Unless the police moved it, which I doubt, it should have still been there."

"Someone moved it?"

"That's what I'm thinking. Someone had the same idea as you, Kaoru. I think they forgot something and snuck in. We still have a chance."

Kaoru's face brightened, and he slung an arm around her shoulder. "Then let's go show them what we've got.

* * *

_A chapter~ No, I have not abandoned this. I was just caught up in a bunch of work. College is fun, but work heavy, so I'll still be slow on my chaptered fics. Sorry guys! I had fun writing this one though, it was a challenge, and it's getting harder to write as time passes. I have to think into the case a lot more, even though it's already all planned out. _

_So, as always thoughts, comments, questions, I'm interested. Critique would be nice too. I'm trying to get better at like description and writing in general. So, please help with that if you can.  
_


	6. Chapter 6

**I DO NOT OWN OHSHC!**

* * *

The courtroom buzzed with quick last minute conversations, some dealing with the seriousness of the case, while others simply spoke of the latest movie they had seen. The way the crowd carried on made it seem as though the seriousness of the surrounding judge's gavel, stand, and stern bailiff, was nothing more than the setting for a pre-teen concert. From where Haruhi stood at the defense's stand, she could even see a group of fast talking adults laughing, all of whom held notepads and small tape recorders.

'_This is just another topic to fuel their gossip magazines_,' she thought with a frown.

Her frown deepened even further when Kyouya Ohtori took post at the opposite side of the room. He looked smug in his black suit, and he organized his documents with such confidence it was hard not to shrink back slightly in fear. He glanced up, catching her eye and smiled. It was clear this was no gesture of kindness. She could feel the mocking aura he radiated even from where she stood.

Haruhi looked down at her own papers, and scanned over them quickly.

No matter how much research she had put into this company, or how much she believed in her client's innocence, it all came down to conclusive evidence in the end. There was hardly enough, but as long as she could stall and tip the favor onto her side even a little, they would be fine, at least for today.

"All rise!" A chorus of feet proceeded, and the judge stepped out in his trademark cloak. He sat, and then signaled for the crowd to do the same.

"Court is now in session for the trial of Hikaru Hitachiin. His charges are as follows: aggravated manslaughter, illegal possession of a firearm, and resisting arrest. Are the prosecution and defense prepared?"

"Yes, your honor," both Haruhi and Kyouya chorused. The judge nodded, and looked to Kyouya.

Kyouya cleared his throat, and began, "Your honor, as you will soon see this is an open and shut case. All evidence clearly points to the guilt of the defendant, Hikaru Hitachiin."

"And what does the defense have to say to this?" The judge asked, turning his head to stare down at the female attorney.

"Your honor, the defense does not agree. We will enter a plea of not guilty," Haruhi announced. She stood firm, but she could feel Kyouya's cold eyes shift to her form.

"What a foolish decision." Haruhi raised her head to meet his demeaning words. "If you had any sense you would try to go after something a bit closer to your reach. Say, temporary insanity for example. At least then your client would have some sort of chance to regain his pride."

Haruhi stiffened but did not falter. Her gaze turned cold to match that of the prosecutor's. "My client is not, nor has he ever shown signs of mental instability. The defense will stand with its plea of not guilty," she shot back. Of course, there was the glaring fact that Hikaru had admitted to blacking out and not remembering his actions at one point.

The prosecutor simply shook his head, a smile still on his face. "If that's the case, then the prosecution would like to call forth our first witness, Officer Takeshi Morinozuka."

A familiar figure stood, and shuffled over to the witness' stand silently. Haruhi could not help but notice how his tall stature made the podium before him seem almost toy-like in size. His serious face, along with the absence of his much smaller partner eliminated all potential jokes on that issue however.

"Will the witness please state his name and occupation for the record? Afterward, please proceed with stating the details of the murder as seen in your police report." Kyouya said, pushing his glasses back up onto his face.

"Takeshi Morinozuka, assistant officer to Head Detective Mitsukuni Haninozuka," he answered smoothly, almost as if the order bored him.

He looked to Kyouya, and then began to speak again. "On the night of the murder the Hitachiin Offices closed at 4pm. During that time an executive meeting took place that lasted until 5:15. The murder took place after the building had been cleared for cleaning at around 6:30pm in the defendant's office. The victim was found later lying on his back. Cause of death was loss of blood due to a bullet wound in his chest."

"Permission to cross-examine the witness, your Honor?" Haruhi piped.

He nodded. "Permission granted."

"If the victim died due to blood loss, we can assume it missed any vital organs, correct?" Haruhi asked, rubbing her chin in thought. The man blinked, and confirmed her suspicions with a quick comment. This meant a slow death that gave the murderer enough time to get away. Hikaru however stayed in place beside the victim until he died. How did that make sense? She moved on, not yet ready to disclose such information without more evidence. Knowing her opponent, he would turn it around and say something along the lines of, '_Of course he stayed beside the victim. He was in shock at the crime he had committed. It's a quite common event._'

"And I'm assuming the office closed early due to the executive meeting, is that correct?", Haruhi asked.

"Yes." The detective nodded.

"Then I have one question. Why would the victim stay so late? It seems a bit unusual doesn't it? Most would have taken this as a sort of day off."

"Some stayed late to get ahead of the next day's workload." The stoic man answered, unnerved.

"However, according to the files Mr. Ohtori was kind enough to submit, this particular employee was known to slack off," at this comment a scoff from said prosecutor could be heard. She glanced over at the man, and continued, "Mr. Ogawa, the victim, was often seen wandering away from his desk or excusing himself from work early. It's not likely that he would be in the category of those trying to get ahead in their work."

Kyouya cut in, "If you had looked further into that file , you would have noticed that his position as an employee was up for discussion. Anyone with a sizeable brain would have been able to connect that information together. The 'discussion' was scheduled to be the night of the murder. I'm sure you could have even gotten this information from your client."

The only problem with that is her client didn't seem willing to tell her anything about the victim.

The prosecutor's smile faded into a stern frown, and he turned hardened eyes on his opponent. "Please refrain from badgering my clients with anymore of your foolish questions. I'm sure the court can agree with me when I say that we don't have time to play anymore of your games."

Haruhi could feel the intensity in the room grow as all eyes turned to watch her reaction to the berating she had just received from not the judge, but her more experienced opponent. She rubbed her burning neck, and lowered her gaze slightly. _He's trying to turn the court against me. _

Haruhi glanced quickly at the audience, and then to the judge, but before she could speak, someone caught her eye.

Kaoru, who was seated closest to her in the audience, looked puzzled. His gaze was locked on the floor before him, and the way he gripped the railing almost seemed as if it would soon splinter and break in his hands from his exertion.

The lawyer's spirits rose. What other clues would she get if she continued?

"I apologize, I just felt it was essential for the court to acknowledge these details." Kyouya seemed to wave her apology off. There was something about him that made her uneasy. She wasn't sure yet if it was how calculated each of his words was, or if it was his eerily calm demeanor. Never had she known a lawyer who she couldn't read.

He turned to the judge, a new glint in his eye. "May I bring out my second witness?"

With the judge's permission, the silent Police officer stood, and was replaced by a much older man wearing suspenders. He was shorter than the previous witness, and less intimidating.

Kyouya began. "You were the janitor working the night of the murder, correct?"

The janitor smiled. "Yes I am. I've worked there for about ten years. I make sure everything is spotless. If even one thing is a little out of place will get angry."

The prosecutor seemed to like this answer a little too much. He probably thought he would be able to twist those words into ammo against Hikaru. Haruhi frowned as she listened on, waiting her turn. "Does get angry often?"

"Well…It's half and half. Sometimes he's nice and sometimes he's not. I swear the man is bipolar."

The judge cut in. "You are aware that both the defendant and his brother are identical twins, correct?"

The janitor's eyes widened and he took a step back in his surprise. "T-Twins? My now that is a surprise! I did see double one day but I chalked it up to my bad vision. I wasn't wearing glasses that day you know."

Haruhi's patience snapped. "Your Honor! Just how reliable is this witness?"

"He's perfectly reliable. I wouldn't put someone completely incompetent on the stand. Why would I waste my time like that?"

The old man stomped his foot. "I'm not incompetent!"

Kyouya didn't reject the man's comment. Instead, he pushed his glasses up onto his face and moved forward. "Now, please tell us your story."

The old janitor grumbled to himself, crossing his arms before finally giving in to Kyouya's request. "I was cleaning near 's main office when I heard a gun shot. I was too scared to go down the hall to find out what happened, so I locked myself in the bathroom and called the police. I heard later about that poor man shot."

"You say you heard a gunshot, Mr. Kobayashi?" Haruhi questioned, rummaging through her files. She held up two pictures, both nearly exact copies. "How do you explain this picture then?" After being given permission, Haruhi stood, presenting one photo to the judge. "On the bottom left hand corner, just out of sight of my client's desk you'll notice something odd. It's a metal device commonly found on guns for hunting when they don't want to scare away nearby animals. It's called a silencer, your Honor. How would a gunshot have been heard if this device was in use? And an even better question—" She placed the second copy of the photo before him. "Why is the device not seen in this photo taken only a day after the murder?"

The janitor faltered. "B-but I did hear a shot! My eyes may be going, but I know what I heard!"

Haruhi turned, eyes softening. "I never said I didn't believe you." Her gaze fell onto Kyouya. "I'm only suggesting to the court that two shots may have been made. One silenced, and one not. This leaves the question of why my client would need to make another shot when one was clearly enough. That is, if he made either of the shots in the first place."

The judge turned serious, his eyes crinkling in thought. "Has anyone investigated on where this device is now?"

Kyouya piped up, his clenched fists shaking with a newfound anger that Haruhi could only smirk at. "No your Honor, but be assured that I will have my men working on it until it is."

"Until then." The old judge spoke, "We will postpone the final ruling for Mr. Hikaru Hitachiin. We can not make a decision until this issue has been cleared up."

"Your Honor—" Kyouya protested, but the gavel had already made the decision final, and with that the courtroom emptied.

* * *

"A silencer?" Kaoru asked, breathless. He ran shaking hands over his face. He looked no better than his twin, standing next to him in a similar suit yet sporting oh so fashionable handcuffs. Although Hikaru hadn't gotten to take the stand – much to Haruhi's relief – he still looked frantic, almost sick. "T-This is crazy. Why would someone—"

"You two are going to need to get a hold of yourselves otherwise we'll continue to get nowhere." Haruhi spoke, her voice soothing yet firm. "I was pulling at straws today. We're lucky I noticed such a small difference in the pictures. Tomorrow we won't be so lucky without something solid."

Both men nodded.

"So we just need to find the silencer?"

Haruhi looked to the younger twin, skeptic. Last time she went on a crime scene with him her badge was nearly taken away. She couldn't risk that again. "I'm going to find it. You take care of your company." He opened his mouth to protest. "No."

Hikaru's eyes grew wide. "What's wrong with the company?" He noted how Kaoru shift uncomfortably from foot to foot, avoiding his brother's worried eyes. It wasn't that the company was completely underwater, but their long time supporters had begun to turn their backs to them. In a sense, it was like they were losing everything. "Kaoru…" His voice wavered, scared.

The younger brother's voice was calm, even despite his brother's growing unease. "I'll take care of it, Hikaru. Don't worry."

"Take care of what!"

Haruhi cringed. She was beginning to regret her words. "I'm sure Kaoru can handle it, Hikaru. For now," she motioned his guard over. "We need to go somewhere private to talk."

Before either of them could walk off, a hand grabbed Hikaru's shoulder. They turned to see Kaoru, head down, looking uncertain as to whether he should continue or not. "Why didn't you mention the meeting with Mr. Ogawa to me?"

Haruhi felt a cold dread form within her. "Kaoru that isn't something we should discuss in the open." She reminded him.

He looked to her, and then focused on Hikaru. Kaoru's grip on his brother's shoulder tightened, his eyes pleading. "Please answer my question, Hikaru."

"I don't remember the mee—" Hikaru was cut off.

"You're lying again!" Kaoru shouted. Hikaru jumped back at the sudden interruption. Kaoru's body shook, and his once soft exterior cracked to reveal what seemed like a completely different man. The only evidence of Kaoru were the tears that threaten to fall behind his livid eyes. "Hikaru… We could have avoided all of this if you had just told me what you were going to do. You lied! You said you needed to finish some paperwork!"

"Kaoru… I…"

"I knew you were lying… You never do the paperwork. I should have said I wanted to stay and help. "

"Kaoru, shut up!" Hikaru's face was red, not out of embarrassment at the crowd of people that stared at them, but in anger. "This," he motioned with his head. "Is why she said we shouldn't talk about this here."

"Even if we had gone somewhere else you would have given me the same excuse." Kaoru's hand dropped to his side, fists clenching and unclenching. Haruhi could tell by the way he looked at Hikaru that he wanted no more than to punch his brother. Thankfully, after a few moments of silence, he calmed. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Hikaru?"

"I don't want to talk about this here…" Hikaru struggled to regain control over his emotions. His voice was harsh, but much softer than previously. "Calm down, Kaoru. This isn't like you."

"Lying isn't like _you_, Hikaru." Kaoru shot back. He turned towards the silent woman between them and put on a rather tense smile. "Sorry, you're right. I need to take care of my _failing_ company right now. Thank you for what you've done so far." With that, Kaoru turned on his heel.

"Failing!" Hikaru moved to follow him, only to be stopped by his guard. "Kaoru! Wait! What the hell?"

* * *

_Yo! It's been a while...I'm sorry. Feel free to flame me and throw sticks. Between freshman year of college and straightening out this plot... I AM SO SORRY! Well you finally get a new chapter for those of you who waited around. Now, there's more suspense and somehow tension between the two usually close brother's has formed._

_As always, comments, questions, or thoughts are welcome. I love hearing from you guys!_

_Thank you Kandichi for looking over this! She helped me get out of my rut with this fic.  
_


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: OWN NOT OURAN. OURAN NOT OWN. NOT OWN. NO OWN OF THE OURAN.**

* * *

"Kaoru what are you doing here?"

The amateur lawyer really had not expected for the youngest twin to show up on her doorstep, especially not this late at night. Shouldn't he have been sleeping and preparing himself for the press that were already trying to break down his door and pry into his and his brother's life? Apparently not, as he stood there gloomily awaiting entrance.

"I…I don't really know. I just couldn't stop thinking about today. I shouldn't have caused a scene but…Hikaru…I've never been so angry with him before." Luckily for her the anger at Hikaru only briefly flashed across Kaoru's face rather than resurfacing. She didn't know if she could handle such emotions at nearly one in the morning.

She yawned, opening the door further. "It's understandable. There are a lot of things riding on this case. I can see how emotions can be high." Was he going to get to the point? Scouring through old case files was tiring enough. Dealing with him would only tire her further.

"Yeah…" He trailed off. "W-What did Hikaru say to you?"

_Ah, there it is, the point of this visit._ "You know I can't tell you that."

Kaoru thought for a moment, before speaking again. "It's the confidentiality issue." Haruhi nodded. Much to her discomfort, he didn't waver. Instead, he pushed past her and inside her home. "Then I'll just have to sign on with your law firm. Employ me."

"Mr. Hitachiin." She reverted. Hopefully that would give him the hint at how serious of a request he'd made.

"Please, Haruhi. I need a back up job anyway right?"

"You're over exaggerating."

Still, he continued. "I'll even take minimum wage. I know you can't afford much else."

"…I'm not signing you. Plus, even if I did I wouldn't allow you to work on this case. It's too personal and you're already too emotionally attached."

"Just tell me what he told you!" The panic within him rose to the surface. He paced inside the small apartment, seeing but not seeing the woman's concerned frown. "Is he guilty? I've been thinking about it all night. If he lied to me about the meeting what else did he lie about? Did he change without me noticing? What if he snapped and killed ? He wouldn't do that, but what if he did? He can't remember and—"

Haruhi's head spun. All of a sudden, Kaoru was speaking at a mile a minute. She wasn't even sure if he understood fully what he was telling her anymore. "Please slow down…and try to lower your voice."

"I just…" His whole body slumped.

How annoying. Now she would have to deal with this. _I'm a lawyer, not a babysitter. _"Take a seat. I'll make us some tea."

"He's…gotten the company in trouble before." Haruhi stiffened and froze halfway to the kitchen. She turned slowly. No, she couldn't have possibly have heard that. Why would he only tell her something like this now? Much to her disappointment, Kaoru's eyes had locked onto hers, an apologetic smile on his face. "I should have told you. I'm sorry. I didn't think things would get this bad that you would need to know."

Forgetting the tea, Haruhi sat beside the man at the small coffee table. She stared at him, taking in this new information.

"It was nothing important." Kaoru smiled weakly. "I just wanted you to know that my brother has a bit of a reckless streak. Even so, I don't think he would willingly take someone else's life."

"You're doubting him."

"What?"

"Before, whenever you spoke about your brother you were always confident." Haruhi noted, remembering some things he had previously said to her or Hikaru.

"_He would never steal anything from me."_

"…_It wasn't Hikaru!"_

_"Why didn't you mention the meeting with Mr. Ogawa to me?"_

"…_What else did he lie about?"_

"You're starting to think Hikaru really did commit the murder, aren't you?" She spoke again. Her theory was proven right when he looked away. He seemed so ashamed of himself at that moment with his head bent down, trying to close himself off from the reality of the lawyer's words. "Why else would you decide to give me such incriminating information?"

Kaoru's eyes hardened. His bowed head rose to challenge her. "I just think he's hiding something. Why would I try to incriminate my own brother?" He let out a noisy sigh, once again deflating. Running a hand through his hair, he elaborated. "I love him, he's my brother. We've been through so much growing up together. I would never willingly put him in danger like you're suggesting."

Haruhi watched the emotions play out on the spent man's face. It was clear he was closing in on his breaking point, if he hadn't already. She could feel her heart sink at the sight. Unlike before when he'd first barged in days ago, demanding her help, now she knew more about him – even if it were only a small chunk. He seemed like a genuinely good person that just so happened to placed in a tough position.

"I apologize. I stepped out of line as your lawyer."

"No, it's fine. My words came out wrong." Kaoru sighed.

"I thought I heard a voice that doesn't belong." Both Haruhi and Kaoru went rigid at the new voice.

"S-Sorry. I'll leave." Kaoru moved to stand, but was roughly tackled and pulled into a tight 'hug'.

"No, no stay." The man sung voice coated heavily with malicious intent despite his words. "I'd love to get to know the person who dares force himself into a young lady's house at such an ungodly hour."

She could see the young twin begin to sweat nervously, eyes darting back and forth from her to the powerful arms holding him hostage in the apartment. Well, she did warn him to keep his voice down. It came a bit late…but she did warn him.

"H-Haruhi…" Kaoru tried, his voice soft. He struggled in her father's grasp.

"And he dares to call my daughter by her first name!" Kaoru paled as the cross-dressing man's grip tightened around him. "Hmm? Have you no manners little boy? How long have you known my precious girl?"

Although he was trying to be polite, Kaoru's irritation began to shine through. "I'm her client. She's working on an important case of mine and I'll be here as often as I can until it's resolved."

Ranka smiled, but Kaoru got the feeling that he'd said the wrong thing. "Not at this time of night, sweetie." The words were kind, but the tone was the exact opposite. Kaoru shuddered. "Haruhi, honey I'll be back soon. I just have to go take out the trash." With that, Kaoru was hauled up by his collar and rather roughly forced out of the small apartment.

It would be twenty minutes later that her father returned, a wicked smile on his face.

* * *

"Good morning, Hikaru," Haruhi greeted. She was rewarded with silence and a blank stare. Once again she was back in the same room she'd questioned him in before. "Hikaru? I know you're upset but acting like this isn't going to help your case or the relationship with your brother." She waited, but nothing came. "You're being childish."

"You once said you would tell me what I could expect my sentence to be," Hikaru's voice was so soft and weak. Even when she'd seen him distraught previous times it had never been like this. His whole demeanor had changed over night. "Is…is the death sentence an option?"

"Why would you ask that?" Something about this was starting to scare her.

"Because…I don't think I would mind it now." Tears pooled in Hikaru's eyes, before sliding down his cheeks. "I remember everything. I did it. I know I did. E-Everything makes sense now."

Haruhi shook her head numbly. "Hikaru…" She took a deep breath. "How did you remember? And how much of your memory did you regain?"

"All of it. It came in a dream. I know that sounds weird but it all makes sense now." Hikaru's head lowered. His face slowly twisted to one of someone who'd lost their mind. The way he smiled, the way his eyes transformed… "I wanted to kill him. I-I couldn't let anyone find out that I screwed up again. The company belongs to me, if mom found out that I…Kaoru can't have it, I'm the eldest. I'm responsible I swear." Much to Haruhi's relief, Hikaru calmed momentarily, only to break into sobs. "I can't do this anymore…"

There was no way she was putting him on the stand.

"Hikaru…" She started slowly, cautiously. "How did you kill Mr. Ogawa?"

"While he was begging me to keep his job, I got scared. I was going to let him keep it and I was just going to delete any evidence."

"Evidence of what?"

"We were hacked a few weeks before. It all lead back to Ogawa. We said we would forget anything happened, but I was worried he wouldn't keep his mouth shut so I…"

"You shot him."

"When he turned around to leave." Hikaru nodded.

Haruhi frowned. "The report says he was shot in his chest."

"Maybe the dream messed up some details, but I know I did it!" Hikaru slammed his hands on the table between them. "I deserve any sentence I get!"

"It's not normal to want the death sentence. I'm a little concerned about your mentality," Haruhi watched her client wilt if only slightly. Suddenly he couldn't look at her. "What's going on, Hikaru? Why are you making up these lies?"

"Not all of it was a lie," He clenched his fists, and looked down sheepishly. "Just the murder part."

"You're a good actor. So, which parts were real?" Haruhi questioned, eyeing him with a new interest. Progress. Lovely.

"The parts about my mom giving Kaoru the company and the meeting with Ogawa…minus the killing him. I still don't remember anything...and it's starting to piss me off."

"So he hacked into company information?" Hikaru nodded reluctantly. She almost began to question him about the company and Kaoru, but paused. She could get that information from Kaoru, for now Hikaru's mental health was more important. "Next question, why are you trying to incriminate yourself?"

The twin flinched. "I…"

"Does this have anything to do with what happened yesterday between you and your brother?" She guessed that his groan meant she was correct. "How is guaranteeing a guilty sentence going to help things? If anything it would make it worse."

"He thinks I did it." Hikaru trembled in his seat. "I can handle the hate-mail, the snide comments, and even the fights with my cellmate, but if he's not there to support me then what else do I have?" He let out a bitter laugh. "I think this is the first time he's ever given up on me."

"Hikaru, he hasn't—"

"You don't know him like I do. He's my brother. Of course he's going to keep going through the motions, but you didn't see how he looked at me. It was like he cast me out of our world. I don't belong in it anymore…" Looking at the eldest twin she wouldn't have known anything was wrong. He smiled nostalgically to himself, almost unaware that he had a listener. "He's the youngest and he's always taking care of me. I'm a lousy brother. It's…time I did him a favor."

Haruhi stood, her face unreadable. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Hitachiin. I've learned a lot today. I'll be sure to come back when you stop being ridiculous."

Hikaru raised his hands to do his best wave in his handcuffs. "Tell Kaoru I love him."

Haruhi paused, "No, that's not my job." And without another word she was out the door.

* * *

There was hardly any time to be dawdling, and yet here she stood outside a rather luxurious building. It was taller than any law firm she'd ever seen, reaching as high as what looked like thirty or more floors. All of which were filled with different prosecutors. Yes, she was far from home in this territory. But she needed information about that silencer, and the only person she knew to ask was her rival.

Kyouya Ootori, he would know if they found anything yet. She crossed her fingers that it was still missing. The trial couldn't go on until the silencer was found and properly examined. This meant more planning, and more planning meant—

"Oh, Ms. Fujioka." Said woman stiffened. That voice…It was just her luck. "Did you get lost? Your 'office' is nowhere near here."

"I'm here to talk to you. It's about the case." The dark glasses-clad man looked almost amused at her statement. Fumbling, she moved to fix it. "I don't need help, what I need is to know the progress on the silencer search."

Kyouya hummed to himself in thought. "Let's take this inside, shall we?" He gestured for her to follow him. "As you probably suspect, the object used to silence the gunshot is still missing. I have all of my forces looking for it however. It won't be long before it's been found. It won't be today, so as of now you've lucked out."

Haruhi swallowed thickly, it was like he could read her so easily. "I see, and no leads?" Kyouya remained silent, not speaking further until they were secured in his office.

"We have our suspicions, but you can't possibly be asking me to give you that information. That would be idiotic." Kyouya trekked further into his office, hanging his coat on what looked to be a rather expensive mahogany stand. "Take a seat." He didn't even seem to be even slightly interested in the fascinated state his rival was in. She found her way over, taking a seat in front of his desk.

The office was as big as her entire apartment and filled with awards, certifications, and more law books than she'd ever read. One of which caught her eye immediately. An out of copy edition of an old textbook she always meant to buy but never found time to. Her fingers twitched with the need to read it.

"You can borrow it if you'd like." Haruhi's head snapped up. "I've already read every book in this room. You can read it. It's not like it's going to help you improve any before court anyway. I have nothing to worry about." Kyouya smirked, plucking the book from its shelf and dropping it none too kindly into her lap. Suddenly she didn't even want to touch the damn thing.

"I've actually been meaning to talk to you for quite some time," Kyouya spoke, moving to relax in his personal chair at his desk. "You've been getting quite the reputation as of late. You don't even need this case to build you up any further."

" I didn't take it for a boost in my reputation."

Kyouya seemed quite amused at this. "Oh? And here I thought you were close to my level. I was mistaken. You're just as foolish as all those other attorneys that jump blindly into a case."

"Who would protect our clients if it weren't for that someone who takes a chance for them? It certainly wouldn't be you." Haruhi growled, anger bubbling. This was no way to treat any guest, but maybe rich people were never taught this fact.

"Correct. I play to win, and I always win. Why take a chance and risk your reliability?" He sighed. "What a waste of time and energy."

The young attorney looked away, gritting her teeth in frustration. Quickly, she forgot about their argument with just one glimpse at a news article partially hidden on the prosecutor's desk. The name Hitachiin stood out clearly, as did a familiar tuft of hair. She moved to pull the article to light, but a swift hand stopped her. "That article, may I see it?"

Dark eyes stared at her momentarily, before cautiously handing her the full article. "Quickly, I don't have much time. I do have other things to do for this case."

Haruhi nodded, skimming the article as fast as her eyes would allow.

The article highlighted two families, both of high class. One was a name she knew well, Hitachiin. The other was new to her. Suoh. It felt like she should know this name, but she couldn't place it. According to the article, there was some sort of incident involving a meeting and an embarrassment on the Suoh family end. She grew all the more curious when the article stopped just before fully mentioning how the Hitachiin family came to play in said embarrassment.

Before she could turn the page to find the rest, a hand snatched the paper from her grip. "If your curiosity has been sated please leave. I have other things to attend to."

Haruhi nodded, "Right…" She stood, and turned on her heel, her hands stroking her chin in thought. Luckily, she was good at remembering dates.

* * *

_The sad truth...I had this mostly done last year. I finished it up last night. Don't worry, everything is nearing the end..._

_Sorry for the drama. Emotions are high and hope is being lost._


	8. Chapter 8

**Ouran Own? No I do not ownz.**

* * *

"Haruhi?" Curious hazel eyes stared back at the girl seated in his living room. "What are you doing here?"

Well, wasn't this nostalgic?

"I'm here for the same reason you showed up on my doorstep two nights ago," she answered.

Kaoru's eyes lit up with hope and a stupid grin stretched his face. He all but skipped over to sit next to his new lawyer friend. Putting an arm around her shoulder he looked to her expectedly. "You're going to tell me what Hikaru said?"

"No, I'm here for information on this article."

Kaoru's grin melted to be replaced with widened eyes and a grimace. He snatched the photocopied article from her hand, glaring at the papers as if doing so would make them disintegrate. She watched as his eyes moved rapidly over it, reading the article about his family and the Suoh's with interest. It was almost as if he hadn't seen it before, but she was proven wrong when he spoke up again, his voice stern and much colder than she ever heard it.

"Where did you get this old thing?" His body seemed to gravitate further from her, almost in disgust.

Calmly she answered. "I saw this when I went to visit Kyouya." She heard Kaoru mutter under his breath: "You went to visit that bastard?" She continued, rolling her eyes unprofessionally. "I was interested so I took a trip to the library to fish it out of the newspaper archives. What do you know about it?"

"What does this have to do with the case? Do you think Tamaki has something to do with it?" Kaoru set the paper down on a small table before them, and leaned back into the couch. He crossed his arms across his chest, a sign Haruhi knew to be as a way of self-defense or insecurity. Why would he need to be defensive over a petty article?

"I wouldn't know that at the moment. I'm just gathering any information dealing with your family and your enemies." Haruhi sat proudly, not letting Kaoru's skeptic glare cause her to waver in her decision to hear what she wanted.

"We had a meeting with the Suoh family a few years back," he began. "We were supposed to be making an agreement that would strengthen the bonds between our companies. We would design his school uniforms and supply help with any computer technology he needed. In return he would be under a contract with us and help us out in any way we needed such as advertising."

Haruhi nodded, and pulled out a notepad to scribble this information down. This rewarded her with a nervous side-glance from the man next to her.

"Our mom couldn't make it so we were left to do it alone with the new heir Tamaki, his father, and his grandmother. But sometime during that Tamaki made some stupid suggestion for the uniform design and Hikaru…he never thinks before opening his mouth. He was quick to call Tamaki out on it. His grandmother agreed with Hikaru and made a huge spectacle of it for some reason." Kaoru frowned and his voice turned dark. "The media had a field trip with it. Never heard from the Suoh's again after that."

"So it was a bit of an embarrassment to the Suoh's I'm guessing," Haruhi commented.

"Of course!" Kaoru answered. He looked to be in pain as if he could feel just how badly embarrassed the family felt. "Negative attention to any family of our status takes a huge hit to our income and reputation."

So he was feeling sympathy. At the moment he was experiencing what Tamaki must have gone through. No wonder he became so upset at the mention of the article.

Haruhi stood to stretch and slid her notebook away to the safety of her bag. "I think that's enough. I still need to deal with other issues so we can progress this case. The judge has decided whether we find the silencer or not, since it's taking far too long we have to continue."

"But we need that! It could help Hikaru!" Kaoru bolted out of his seat, clearly in distress. She watched as his eyes grew glassy as if he were somewhere far away from the present moment. Mixed expressions crossed his face and Haruhi didn't know if she should be concerned or sneak out and let it be. "Aren't there ways to jog someone's memory?"

"There are, but we've already tried restating the events we know took place during the accident along with giving him time to gather himself mentally. None of it has worked."

"What about hypnosis?" Kaoru offered, turning to her.

"Do you honestly think that will—" She sighed and cut herself off. The way he was looking at her spoke volumes.

"Sorry, that's more of something Hikaru would suggest isn't it?" He rubbed the back of his neck, a small blush creeping onto his face.

"Therapy…he's being forced to go. I never thought to ask his therapist how it was progressing, but I doubt your brother would allow them to form a contract so they could tell me."

Kaoru shook his head, agreeing. "No, he wouldn't. He won't even tell me."

"Tomorrow we can take a visit to the Detention Center. I'll allow you to join me, only if you behave this time," Haruhi warned. She shot him a dry glare, before turning to be escorted to the door. Kaoru nodded and waved to her retreating back. "We're running out of time. Hikaru takes the stand during the next hearing.

* * *

A day of searching for clues. A day of failure. If she were ever to become a detective she could count on being fired the day they hired her. The most she'd gotten out of anyone is that a silencer would be hard to find because of the rarity of guns in Japan. Using that information she'd searched for the few places that did sell the item only to find that, although the owners kept track of who ordered the item, none on the list related to the case. The only thing she could look forward to was the meeting she'd scheduled with Hikaru the next day. Even then she doubt anything useful would come from that, but she could only hope for the best.

She met Kaoru bright and early in the lobby of the Center. He fidgeted nervously with his wristwatch, and barely registered her entrance.

"Kaoru?" His head snapped up. She let out a slow disappointed breath. Once again his eyes were red and dull from a lack of sleep. Haruhi chose not to address it and instead beckoned a guard over to guide them to Hikaru. "Let's go in."

When they arrived Hikaru looked anything but pleased to see them. He sat back in his chair, stiff with his hands on his knees. It was sad to see how much he'd deteriorated since they first met. The once healthy man was now a twitchy, anorexic mess. It was so clear that he was suffering, why was no one else concerned for his health? Suspect or not he's still human.

"Are you eating?" Kaoru beat her to the punch. His voice was harsh with lingering anger but his concern overpowered that. He held his hand up to the glass. When his twin didn't respond his whole demeanor transformed to melt into one almost like a concerned mother. "Hikaru answer me. Please don't ignore me." The older twin said nothing. Kaoru's lip trembled. "Please...I need to know. You need to eat, you'll make yourself sick if you don't."

"I can't keep anything down. I've tried," Hikaru croaked. "Do you think I'd purposefully starve myself? Honestly, Kaoru, maybe we don't know each other as well as we think."

That seemed to be a painful blow for Kaoru as his eyes began to fill with water. "You've been so different, Hikaru! How am I supposed to know what's the you I know and what's this...liar I see now!" He clenched his teeth and diverted away from his seat to pace. "That was low, Hikaru..."

Said twin crossed his arms and leaned back, looking away from his two visitors. "Yeah, well I'm not sorry."

"Take it back," Kaoru growled.

"No," Hikaru hissed.

"Take it back, now!" The younger twin insisted, inflamed eyes boring into equally heated eyes.

"I said, 'no' Deal with it!"

Dear God, are they three years old? What the hell is-She couldn't even-

"Stop this game! You're both being ridiculous!" The lawyer pointed to Kaoru's seat. "Sit!" He did so reluctantly, mimicking Hikaru's position. She pointed to Hikaru. "Stop making trouble. Just because life is being 'unfair' to you it gives you no right to harass the only people who are still supporting you." Hikaru covered his face with his hands and said no more.

"Is it okay with you if Kaoru sits in?" She asked. No answer. "Hikaru if you don't answer I have to remove him from the room."

"Hikaru." Kaoru prompted quietly. Still no response.

"Kaoru, I'm sorry but-"

He sighed and stood. With a shaky voice he shrugged and plastered a smile on his face. "I know I'm leaving." He turned to his brother. "Try harder to eat. I don't want to get a call saying you starved to death." He quickly turned his back to them both when the room stayed silent. "You've never been this quiet before...and I know you didn't mean a thing you said just now. Just try to get out of whatever depression you're in. It's scaring me, Hikaru."

"Hikaru, you're bleeding." Kaoru spun around and Hikaru brought down his hands in surprise. All color quickly drained from Hikaru's once healthy looking face and his eyes widened. Haruhi frowned. He looked almost terrified, and when his hands flew up to check his nose he trembled violently when his fingers met with the thick liquid.

"Hikaru?" Kaoru moved back to the window, fear in his voice. "What's wrong? Does it hurt?"

Hikaru's chest heaved with deep, uneven breaths that soon quickened as he noticed there was more sliding down his nose. What confused Haruhi is that he didn't move to pinch his nose to attempt to stop the flow. He sat frozen, even as it trickled down his lips.

"You're going to hyperventilate, Hikaru. Breathe slowly." Haruhi stood, moving to the door to give two hard knocks. The trembling man gave no heed, and instead lift his fingers to stare at the blood on them before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and with a loud thud he met the cold concrete floor.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru beat on the window separating him and his twin. She watched his hand grow red with the force. Moments later a guard stepped in and carried the limp form of Kaoru's twin away much to his dismay

"I didn't know he had a fear of blood. That changes things completely." Haruhi felt excitement bubble in her chest. "There's no way he could have murdered anyone. He wouldn't be able to stay conscious long enough to do so."

"He doesn't," Kaoru spoke softly. His hands clenched at his pants and he stared down at the floor. "At least he didn't before now."

"He didn't?" Then that put them right back to square one. Albeit now she could pocket this little piece of information for later use.

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

Haruhi pat Kaoru's shoulder. "He only fainted. He's not injured, and he's not sick. He'll be fine."

* * *

After the incident at the detention center, where she _still_ got almost no information to run with, the trial came all too soon. Before she knew it she stood in the courtroom, her newest documented evidence in hand and Kaoru giving her an encouraging thumbs up in the audience. She smiled faintly, and mouthed a thank you. His face grew a suspicious shade of red.

Today was Hikaru's turn on the stand despite much pleading and explanation of how mentally unstable he currently was. With this new evidence however she gave in much quicker to the deny's she usually got. She needed him as much as he needed her today.

"Hikaru," Haruhi began when it was her turn for questioning. "Is it true that you have a fear of seeing blood?"

Hikaru stiffened. She knew she would meet reluctance on this one. He seemed to grind his teeth as he processed her question. He answered slowly, as if unsure. "Yes."

"Is it also true that this is a new development?" She added.

Again she met resistance. "Yes."

"Can you describe to the court what occurs when you come in the sight of blood please."

"Why do I have to—This has nothing to do with—?" He sighed deeply. "I shake and faint. That's all."

"Is there anything that goes through your mind during this process?" Haruhi pushed boldly, yet with a slight caution.

Hikaru paused, his expression turned to that of surprise. "Um…I just think about how I don't want to see it. I mostly think about trying not to get it on my hands."

Well, that wasn't what she was expecting. "Why your hands?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"You paused. Is that the full truth?" After learning how to read Kaoru she found it was also to notice Hikaru's bodily language as well. It was so similar yet slightly different. That must be what happens when you grow up with a sibling. You learn so much from each other.

His jaw tightened, and he turned away from the crowd. "Because I always imagine that there's more of it on them than what there really is."

"Any guesses as to why that is?"

"No."

"Perhaps it's because you were found with your hands covered in blood the night of the murder." When he calmed from her first statement she continued. This time her voice was less accusing and more friendly. He was so tense. "You're scared of seeing the amount of blood that indicated death. I have a theory. Would you allow me to test it?"

"What?" His brows furrowed in confusion and he watched her diligently as she pulled out a small vial of blood and displayed it for Hikaru and the court. The latter instantly tensed up and his face took on a whitened pallor as his pupils dilated.

"If you feel faint let me know. But, since it's not on you perhaps its not quite as bad. How are you feeling?"

Hikaru's lips set themselves in a thin line, and he gagged as if he were about to be sick.

"Are you all right to continue?"

It took some time, but soon he nodded slowly, averting his eyes from the vial.

"I need you to look at it Mr. Hitachiin." He reluctantly looked back. His face had taken on a green shade, and she was sure now that he would soon be sick. "Can we get something for him to be sick in?" A trashcan was summoned to be promptly put into use as soon as it met Hikaru's clammy hands. "When you're done we need to continue."

He looked back to her when he was done. He truly looked miserable and she felt horrible for having to do this to him. She could almost feel Kaoru's burning, angered gaze watching her.

"Stare at this, and tell the court what is going through your mind."

Hikaru's voice came out soft and timid like a scared child. He sank back into his chair, clutching onto the trashcan with a shaky but tight grip. "Please put it away. I don't want to see it." He took in long, deep breaths and closed his eyes momentarily before locking them with Haruhi's. "I feel sick. I'm…scared…please put it away."

"Scared of what?"

"I don't know!" Her client exploded, throwing his unoccupied hand into the air. He truly looked as though he were on the edge of breaking down into tears. "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know! Just put it away!"

"Please take time to think about what could be causing these emotions."

"Haruhi!" The woman winced. They couldn't move to a personal relationship in the courtroom, everything she was fighting for would go down the drain. But, she could see that Hikaru was becoming desperate to get out of this situation she'd created and no doubt Kaoru was—She looked to where he should be seated briefly only to find it empty. Pinching the bridge of her nose she struggled to maintain her poise. "Please refrain from using my first name, ."

"Is this even legal?" He asked. "Isn't this like torture?"

Haruhi's voice grew soft, and she put the vial back into her pocket. "I apologize. It's away, does that help you think?"

She watched him nod and slowly relax back into his chair. "It didn't bother me until all of this happened, you're right. I don't know why I'm like this now though. I already told you that I hate it on my hands. I don't know what else you want me to say. " She readied herself to move on when he spoke again. "I get flashbacks…"

"Flashbacks?" She heard Kyouya mumble. He scratched his chin, suddenly intrigued.

"Back to the only thing I remember. Waking up over his body…and sometimes, like just now, I remember something else. I see myself trying to do CPR or something."

"CPR?"

"My hands are on his chest," Hikaru clarified. He swallowed hard and then briefly stuffed his head back into the trashcan, but after a few moments he turned back to his audience. "What does this have to do with anything? I'm scared of blood, so what?"

"It proves that you have a guilty conscious about what you've done," Kyouya piped up.

Haruhi spun to stare at him, mouth agape and Hikaru looked no less surprised at his statement. "That was an unwarranted comment ." She shot back quickly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What Mr. Hitachiin here seems to be saying is that remembering his work on his victim makes him sick. It sounds like a guilty conscious of someone who may have, in the spur of the moment, lost control of his emotions and did something he now regrets. Regrets, however, don't bring our victim back to his family and friends. You do know that, correct, Mr. Hitachiin?"

Kyouya's face was grave as he showed sympathy for the victim's family watching him in the front row, but Haruhi could feel his menacing aura on at full power. He was trying to sway the court with emotions now, and it seemed that his words were even beginning to affect her client. Hikaru sat at the stand stiff with a pained frown on his face and he could no longer look at his audience.

"I'm sorry…" he said softly.

"You're apologizing?" Haruhi's blood ran cold at her enemy's snide voice. "Does this mean you are admitting your guilt?"

Hikaru slumped. "I don't know…"

"He's not," Haruhi cut off. "If he cannot remember the murder then he cannot state if he did or did not kill the victim."

"However he does remember parts of that night and we can conclude from those scenes that he was heavily involved in the victim's death." Kyouya stood tall, a smirk on his pale face. "He had the gun in his hands at the arrival of the officers on call and he had the victim's blood on his hands."

"An attempt to save him," she interjected.

"Yes, once the guilt set in and he realized how this would affect his and his brother's lives. Perhaps it was then he attempted to stem the blood flow or perform CPR."

Shit…

"That-!" Kyouya cut her off quickly.

"I'm not done Ms. Fujioka," he was smiling...that bastard was having fun making her squirm and making Hikaru feel insecure. How could someone be enjoying this? That conniving little...

"I apologize, continue," she replied politely.

"Your client, from my observations and from the clues we have gathered thus far, has a guilty conscious. It may be because of this that he suffered from such a trauma. The ability to forget everything you've done. Quite convenient isn't it Mr. Hitachiin? If you can't remember you can't slip and give away a clue that would incriminate you. Or, perhaps you do remember." The way Kyouya was pressing Hikaru made her uncomfortable, and she could tell Hikaru was beginning to panic. Even without the blood now he was pale and trembled in his seat.

"I don't remember. I really don't," he said quietly, almost as if he were beginning to doubt himself. He looked down at his hands, and then spun for the trash can again to gag. She noticed that he refused to turn back to the audience even after he was done. His shoulder's were heaving and she could barely hear the increasing volume of his sobs. She spun when she heard complimenting sobs from the audience and Kaoru's back as he fled from the room. He came back and now he's gone again...she would have to talk to him afterward. It seemed as though the stress of his brother's imprisonment was starting to get worse. He shouldn't have come, she would have to ban him next time.

"Your honor!" She called, but the Ohtori continued.

"From my interviews with your old classmates I came to conclude that you and your brother were very good actors in school. You were a pair of pranksters that were able to swoon any teacher out of a detention, just by pretending to be remorseful." Kyouya's smile grew all the wider.

"Your Honor!"

"Is that what you're doing now?" Hikaru turned to his torturer. He was trembling too badly to continue this trial. Now she was sure he was going to pass out if this continued. But the man didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon an the judge seemed too interested in this new information to stop him. "This isn't grade school anymore. You can't sway the court with amnesia and tears."

And Hikaru crumpled to the floor.

* * *

_I had this...Almost done a long time ago. I seem to have a habit of doing that. Um...weird fact of the day? I'm posting this on Finals week in college. I'm a little weirded out by my choice of time management. Good for you guys thought, right? I kind of had fun with this chapter, can you tell? I enjoy writing health related issues~ I have a fic about asthma that I may or may not post eventually..._

_Anyway! Hope you had a fun time reading this as much as I did writing it. I'd LOVE to hear what you guys think. I won't be one of those "Post or I no post anymore" writers but it does help give encouragement (I need it to get through this hell week). Ah, exams~ _

_As always comments, critique or whatever, send me a line either in review or a note! I love talking to you guys. Even if I do forget to respond back sometimes and then forget what I was asked and then- I'm shutting up now..._


	9. Chapter 9

**I OWN DIS PLOT. NO OWN CHARACTERS.**

* * *

"Kaoru, what are you-" She cut herself off and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, let's agree that from now on there will be no surprise visits. I'll call you, you call me."

"If I call you'll tell me no," Kaoru slurred.

Oh God. He wasn't...

Haruhi sniffed the air around her client and then took in his unsteady gait. She nearly closed the door in his face when he stumbled over his feet just from trying to stand upright. Kaoru caught himself with a heavy hand on her shoulder that nearly caused them both to topple backwards.

"You're drunk, Kaoru..." she stated with disappointment. With a sigh she looked back to her apartment. Dad would be home soon. If she had a drunk man here when he got home Kaoru would find himself in their dumpster when he sobered up. "You can't stay here. Go home."

"Too incompetent to stand trial," Kaoru stated flatly. His entire face had gone blank and she could feel his unfocused eyes boring deep into her. "He can't remember anything, he can't testify without fainting, he's so depressed he can't eat."

Haruhi slumped and shook her head with sympathy. "Kaoru...there was nothing I could do. He's too unstable to continue, and on the path we were heading we would have lost unless he remembered something anyway. I'm sorry."

"He's in a mental institution!" Kaoru screamed. The force caused him to stumble further into Haruhi but this time he wasn't quick enough to regain his footing. The petite girl had to shoot her arms out to help him sink to the ground rather than send them both tumbling. "I'm gonna be sick."

"Idiot, how much did you drink?"

"Not enough."

She sighed. "Stand up, let's get you to the bathroom at least."

The young twin nodded and allowed her to pull him up onto unsteady feet. Nearly his entire body weight was leaned onto Haruhi's small frame but she pushed through on shaky legs until they reached their destination. Kaoru was promptly dropped none to gently, despite his condition, onto the bathroom floor.

"He's only there to get treatment. They're hoping that will help him remember and prevent further deterioration. Going under trial is too much for him, you were there." Haruhi sat next to the retching man. "I should have tried harder to dissuade the judge. I knew he wasn't ready to go on the stand."

Kaoru's head lay halfway in the toilet when she turned to him. It looked almost as if he had fallen asleep, but by the slight tremble of his slim form she knew better. He lift his head slowly, hiding his face as he did so, and flushed the evidence of his stupid decision of the night away.

"I guess I should be thanking you for the fact that this isn't permanent," his voice wavered. "He's not on death row at least, and they can't make a decision on a jail sentence yet."

"Kaoru, look at me when you're talking."

Rather than turning to face her he buried a hand in his hair and leaned his elbows on the toilet rim. Although his hair hid his eyes she could see the wet streaks running down his reddened skin. He let out a low whine.

"Sorry, it hurts my head to turn in that direction."

"I've already seen you and your brother in your emotional states. There's no reason for you to be embarrassed now."

"It's not that," Kaoru laughed. He sniffed and shook his head. "I'm drunk at the lawyer for my brother's house crying over someone you probably don't care about anymore. Why did I come here?"

Haruhi stood and, with a yawn, reached high above her head in a stretch. "I can't answer that for you, but I will give you privacy now that I know you're fine. Stupidly drunk, but fine."

With that, she turned and made to close the door on her way out. A watery voice stayed her hand. "Haruhi, what are we?" The door creaked back open to reveal Kaoru's expectant face staring up at her. "It's strange isn't it? Most lawyer's and clients don't meet like this. You could have even called the cops on me for showing up like this, but you didn't."

"You're awfully thoughtful for being drunk," Haruhi noted.

"Not all drunks are the same. Hikaru's the belligerent one, I'm the horny one." His face heat up after his words clicked. Both stared awkwardly at each other before the apologetic bomb exploded. "Th-That's not-I mean-I can't help it! No, I didn't mean that either! I find you attractive but I'm not-" Kaoru squeezed his eyes shut and hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Just forget I said anything."

"Now I can see that you're clearly drunk." Even with the alcohol-induced confessions Haruhi found herself smiling at Kaoru's incoherence. Rejoining him, she sat crossed-legged and watched him try to regain what little integrity he had left. "You went from crying to making a fool out of yourself too quickly to be sober."

"Told you," Kaoru snorted and then leaned back to lay on the floor with a lamenting groan. He turned on his side and, propping himself up on an elbow, surveyed the female in front of him. "This isn't normal."

"Nothing about this case has been normal," the brunette was quick to point out.

"Will he be okay?"

"From what I last heard he's being medicated and has been put in intensive therapy."

"Medication?" Kaoru hissed with a glare. "He's not crazy. He doesn't need any."

"Unfortunately Hikaru is bound to a contract that says he must do anything the institution thinks will benefit him. If they say he needs to be on medication he can't refuse."

Kaoru huffed and rolled over to turn his back to her. It was as if he blamed her directly for putting his twin on the medicine. Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like a child."

The angered man sat up with a vicious frown. "Should you really be saying things like that to the one paying you?"

"You're not paying me anymore. I'm off the case until Hikaru regains some form of competency," she stated with a bit of an edge to her voice.

This only seemed to fuel Kaoru's fire. He leaned towards Haruhi, his eyes narrowing as he stared deep into her riled glare. Her expression had contorted to mirror his twisted face.

"Whose fault is it that he's incompetent, Haruhi? You're the one that didn't try hard enough. It's your fault my brother's being labeled as crazy! I should have gone somewhere else for help!"

"Don't act as if you had nothing to do with his break down," she spat, much to Kaoru's surprise. His eyes widened. "On multiple occasions you stormed out on him." Her mouth flew faster than the lawyer side of her brain could keep up with, clientele confidence be damned. "I've never once had a client beg me for a guilty verdict so they could get out of their family's way."

The sound of Kaoru getting sick was what brought her back.

"I'm sorry, that was completely out of line." She stood, tripping over herself as she tried to remove her presence from her own bathroom. The agonized wails were just too much. Even slamming the door shut couldn't block them out.

* * *

"Maybe I should leave alcohol alone for a while."

Haruhi stiffened and reluctantly forced herself to look in the direction of the voice. Kaoru, looking like a seasick passenger with his mussed clothes and pale complexion, stood next to her with a sheepish frown.

"I think that would be a good idea," she answered softly.

Kaoru rubbed the back of his head and, after shifting awkwardly on his feet for a moment, sat next to her at the coffee table. He glanced at the television and then the clock. "The news is about to come on isn't it?"

This gained him a glimpse and then silence as the television was flicked off.

"Thank you."

Haruhi nodded. "Your welcome. I didn't want to deal with your crying again."

Kaoru blushed. "Don't tell anyone about this. I don't want to be forced to defend my status as a man. Hikaru already gives me enough trouble."

"It's a normal reaction. It makes no difference whether you're a male or female and no one should judge you for it."

"Nicely worded, Haruhi!" Kaoru smiled softly. She gave an annoyed grunt when he ruffled her hair but made no move to intercept it. When he brought his hand down he let it fall to rest on her shoulder before retracting it completely. "Thanks for turning the TV off, but what I was really thanking you for was what you said. If Hikaru thinks he's in my way then I'm at fault as a brother. I don't know when we started to slip...but now that I think about it, I should have seen this coming." He took a deep breath and slowly released it. "We had been fighting for a few months before all of this started over the smallest things."

"Kaoru, you don't have to explain anything to me. I'm not under contract with you or your brother anymore," Haruhi said. She fidget uncomfortably, moving her tea cup to one side of the table to the next and then repeating the action with other items.

"You're right," Kaoru nodded. His stiff posture made her relax if only slightly. Seemingly she wasn't the only one that felt out of place. "I'm talking to you as a friend, and I wanted my friend to know that."

Haruhi's lips zipped closed and she looked down instead of meeting his kind eyes. "You're drunk."

"The thing about vomiting everything in my stomach is that it gets rid of the alcohol that wasn't absorbed yet, and time lessens its effects." Kaoru shrugged. "My head's still fuzzy and I'm still a little sick but I don't feel as drunk." His lips twitched into a playful smirk. "I'm not horny anymore either."

The slap on his arm was all he needed to send him into an uncontrollable fit of giggles. That, and the priceless tomato like tone her face had taken, forced Kaoru to fall back on the floor and clutch his stomach with amusement.

"Don't be disgusting!" Haruhi barked with a stern look. "I didn't need to know that."

Her perverted friend only quieted when the door handle jiggled. She watched his whole demeanor change to one of a frightened child.

"Haruhi!" Ranka sang as he danced into their small living room. "Sorry I'm late. The girls just wouldn't let me leave without Karaoke first." The crossdressing man dropped his motherly front and turned dark eyes onto Kaoru. "What is this thing doing in here again? I thought I put it in the trash last time. It must not have gotten the hint."

"Dad, he's a friend. I invited him over."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at her last statement.

Ranka smiled. "Oh is that so? Then I'll give your little friend until the count of ten to get out."

Said friend was on his feet instantaneously.

"Eight...nine..." The older man counted.

"I'm leaving!" Kaoru gave Haruhi a small wave and hightailed it to stand outside the door, barely avoiding a smack to the head from a broom.

"I shouldn't see you right now!" Ranka growled.

"You didn't count to ten!" Kaoru shot back.

"You just used your remaining seconds."

This time the broomstick connected with the head of the young twin.

With a growl Kaoru rubbed the tender area but didn't budge from his spot. He turned a stone-like face onto his new friend. "Haruhi, I'm not giving up yet. Just because the case has been disbanded for a while doesn't mean we can't keep looking for the answers."

The woman nodded. "We'll keep looking. I know he's innocent, Kaoru."

"Leave!"

The door slammed shut.

* * *

_This chapter was fun~ Admittedly it is a filler chapter but one of these is fine once in a while. Ah, Hikaru's situation...yeah. Sorry spun that one out of thin air didn't I? I'm with you guys on that one. I surprised myself. I do that a lot... I'm actually feeling pretty bad for what I'm making Hikaru go through. A lot of emotional pressure would drag anyone down, but then to not know if you killed someone or not-_

_As always drop me a line via review or PM. _

_**Warning: I know I'm updating fast now but my winter break is ending. Aka I'll be busy with school again. Hopefully I won't disappear again but updates will be sloooooow. Which is one reason I'd rather you all vote on what you want updated. It gives me an idea what to concentrate on when I'm NOT busy. So go VOTE.**  
_


	10. Chapter 10

**I DO NOT OWN DA OURAN. I DO OWN DIS FIC.**

* * *

"I feel like a stranger in my own body, is that normal?"

Haruhi frowned at the sullen face of her new friend. "Hikaru, you know I can't tell them to stop your medications."

"I wasn't asking for that..." His arms folded in front of his chest protectively, and he made a failed attempt to sit up straight in his chair.

This setting wasn't ideal for either of them, but at least it attempted to veil the terrible situation with a more personal feel. There was no barrier between them, no handcuffs, and no guards, if you ignored the roaming nurses. She was sure they would be just as aggressive as a prison guard at the slightest sign of mental instability. Still, Haruhi enjoyed this. It seemed more like a chat over a cup of coffee.

"I hate how they're making me feel, but I appreciate not having nightmares."

Haruhi hummed in response. "That's good..." Instead of continuing with that topic she skipped to rummaging through her bag beside her chair. When she found her prize, she paused, and then cautiously set it on the table between them. "Do you remember this?" She pushed the newspaper she'd found earlier forward so Hikaru could get a better view.

"You mean the day I prevented an idiot from making the worst school uniforms in Japan?" Hikaru stated flatly. He picked up the article with disinterest to lazily scan it. "Yes. This guy...I don't know what he was thinking when he thought up such a stupid design."

"So you remember the embarrassment you caused him as well?"

Hikaru lowered the paper enough to stare at Haruhi. "You were talking to Kaoru."

Haruhi's eyes widened. "How did you know-"

"Twin telepathy!" The twin smiled and leaned back in his seat. "Didn't you know? All twins are born with it."

This flustered her so much her ears grew a shade of red. "Do you really think I'll fall for that? If you were telepathic you would have known all of this before I showed you the article or said anything about it!"

"It's long distance telepathy. It takes a little bit longer for the messages to come through." Hikaru said this with such seriousness Haruhi found herself nearly nodding at the statement.

Of course, it made sense...right? Just like mail or-She shook her head. "Hikaru..." Haruhi warned.

"Fine..." he sighed. "I'm not giving you hints on how our superpowers work, but I'll answer whatever you need." Haruhi groaned and slapped a hand to her face. He doesn't feel like himself, he says? She was sure an argument could be made on that. Hikaru soon settled back into a somber mood. "Kaoru gave me a lecture right after that meeting with Suoh. He mentioned maturity and something else I don't remember."

"'Something' doesn't give me a good idea of what happened."

Hikaru shrugged and turned away to glance at a nearby clock. "Hey, visiting hours are over. I guess you have to go."

"How convenient," Haruhi grumbled and began to collect her things to leave. Hikaru smirked up at her as she stood and allowed the nurses to escort her back into the world outside his new home.

* * *

He's hiding things again. For someone who desperately wanted his life to go back to normal, Hikaru was being a pest. He would have to make up his mind eventually on whether he wanted to help or hinder his case. Until then, Kaoru would be her best bet at getting answers. Luckily, now that business was down Kaoru had all the time in the world. The moment Haruhi threw out the invitation to brain storm in her office he had practically teleported to her location.

"Okay, this is what we have: Hikaru was found over the body with the weapon, my stolen key, the silencer, and..."

Haruhi picked up where Kaoru left off. "The article."

"The article," Kaoru repeated. His brows furrowed and he rubbed his chin as he let his mind sift over the information. "I'm trying to remember what I lectured him about, but it's been a long time, Haruhi."

"Anything you can remember will help."

"I know," he sighed. "I'll keep trying to remember, but until then can you let me know if there's anything else I'm missing?"

"Were you aware that the victim hacked into your company computer files?"

Kaoru perked up in his seat at that, and his brows furrowed in confusion. It took him a long moment before he responded, leading her to assume that this was new to him. If that was the case, then they could split up for the day instead of staring at each other while they pondered over the information they already had. After all, she needed to check in with Mei. The fingerprint analysis had to be done by now.

"No...I didn't know that," Kaoru stated slowly. His shoulders had risen as he grew tense with each passing thought in his head. "When did he tell you that?"

Haruhi paused. How would she describe this? "The same night he told me..." Hmm, no. Telling him it was the same night Hikaru 'admit' the murder wouldn't sit very well now would it? "It was a while back. I couldn't use it in court because he didn't give me anything to go on besides that." She stood and fished in her pocket for her phone. "For now, maybe it would be a good idea to look into that. I just remembered something I need to follow up on."

Her friend nodded dumbly, obviously still in a state of shock. "I'm not the one who deals with the computer files, that's always been Hikaru..." he mumbled. Now, he stared down at his lap in a daze. "When would that have happened? Why didn't I notice? Hikaru,what the hell were you getting yourself into that you couldn't tell me any of this?"

She could tell that none of what he'd spoken was aimed at her, but rather to himself. It was upsetting to see and hear the pain laced in his quiet rambling. "Kaoru?" He abruptly stood, grabbed his things, and flew out the door.

Haruhi sighed. Well, at least she could be comforted by the fact that he would probably slave over the files until he found what they needed. Shaking her head, she flipped open her cell phone and dialed Mei.

"Haruhi? What do you want?" Mei's voice answered through the speaker.

"The fingerprints on the key. Did your friend give you the results?"

"Not yet. He told me he was working on it still." Haruhi sighed into the phone at this, and Mei exploded into one of her all too familiar outbursts. "Look, he has other cases he has to deal with besides yours. He's working on it, what else do you want me to say?"

Haruhi, used to such an event from her friend, paid no mind to Mei's irritation. "This is important. I understand he's busy, but so am I, on this particular case."

This time Mei was the one to sigh as she came down from her sour mood. "I know, just give him some more time, okay?" Haruhi nodded, forgetting that gesture wouldn't be translated through the phone. "But, I can tell you one thing." The lawyer perked up at this. "Obviously Hikaru and Kaoru's prints are on the key, but there's a half print that doesn't follow their pattern."

Joy welled up in Haruhi's chest, making her heart flutter in excitement. "Is that why it's taking so long?"

"Yeah, he's trying to go through millions of fingerprints to match it up."

"But with only half of the fingerprint, that could take longer than I have on this case." Suddenly all joy disappeared. She clutched the phone in her hand and began to pace the small space of her office. "I've had a suspect in mind but I haven't had the chance to follow up on my hunch."

"Maybe it's time to do that."

"And If I do this right..."

"You can get those fingerprints you need," Mei finished for Haruhi. "Now get off the phone and get moving already!" With a click the phone went dead, however Haruhi wasn't in the least bit irritated, because now she knew just what she needed to do.

* * *

"Do you need something?"

In front of Kaoru a blonde man stood with a small, shy smile on his face. The last man Kaoru wanted to see, especially now. "My grandmother and I would like to offer our condolences, and as a fellow business man I want you to know that I would be happy to help you in any way I can."

* * *

_Dear Lord you guys have no idea how good it is to be on the internet. I've been in withdrawal for weeks! And I'm soon to return to that darkness as quickly as it was taken away...I have no access where I am now, not until I return to school in August. I did however get some writing done at least. It's short though...sorry._

_As always drop me a line~ review or PM me! I can still get into my email at least. I also hate this new fanfiction so I probably WILL be moving to a different site. Oh, and to my anonymous reviewers: Thank you for reviewing, but next time you say my story sucks at least give a reason. However, you did review and for that I say thank you. _


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